The Empath
by Hannah-Black
Summary: This is my version of the sixth book. There's adventure, romance, danger, heartache, and happieness all in one story. Read it and I think you'll like it:)
1. The Dark Mark And The White Tiger

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Chapter 1: The Dark Mark and the White Tiger

The weather was horrific with treacherous winds beating against the mountain, and the fierce snow didn't appear to show any signs that it was going to stop falling from the sky. The only sound for miles away was the ear-splitting howling of the wind. In the distance, struggling to stay on course, was a white tiger slowly climbing the side of the mountain. When the tiger finally reached the top, there was a loud crack, and the tiger jumped behind a large snow covered boulder as two men appeared. 

While the tiger watched their every move, they walked to the edge of the cliff and turned around. One of the men took out his wand, and in a commanding voice said, "MORSMORDRE", and something shot out of his wand. It was a green colossal skull, comprised of what looked like emerald stars with a serpent protruding from its mouth like a tongue. It was hovering above the ground.

As it started to rise higher, the man then spoke again, "Alohomora." The serpent slithered into a round handle. The man then grabbed the handle. He turned it right, then left, and the skull disappeared leaving a smoky green silhouette of a door. The man opened the door, and the two men stepped inside. The door disappeared behind them, and once again there was nothing to be seen. 

As the tiger lied still closely watching the edge of the cliff, there was another loud bang, and a woman appeared. She then did the same thing as the men before her did, and everything disappeared again. More and more people came and did this, one small group after the next. 

Hours went by with no one in sight, but then…a smoky green door appeared, and the two men from before stepped out. There was another loud bang, and they vanished. The tiger's ears ached with all the noise, but it happened again and again with the same groups of people as before. It was then late at night, and the weather was even more treacherous than before. 

After the last group of people disappeared, the tiger stepped out from behind the bolder. Just then, the smoky green door appeared again, and the tiger jumped back behind the bolder. The door then opened, and a man stepped out. It looked as if he was a really small man, but his cloak made him appear three times his actual size. The man stood there holding the door open. And then a taller, more slender man stepped out. 

"Master are you sure it's safe to leave him here alone?" asked the squeaky voice of the shorter man. 

"Yes, Wormtail, I'm sure. No one, but a few of my followers even know that he's alive, let alone that he's here. My followers are the only ones that know that this place even exists and how to get into it. And he won't be waking up for a few days anyway. Besides everyone will be too worried about fixing the havoc we'll cause tonight to even think about anything else," the taller man said as a loud evil laugh filled the mountain. 

With a loud crack, both of the men disappeared. The tiger waited a few minutes and then quickly ran to the edge of the cliff, turned around, and transformed into a human girl. The girl's long black hair tangled in the wind as she took a wand out of her cloak and pointed it just as the men before her had done. 

She whispered the spell, and the door appeared in a puff of greenish smoke. She entered, not knowing quite what she expected to find, and realized she was in a huge room with a high beautiful ceiling. The floor was painted like a dartboard, a small circle inside of a larger circle, inside of a yet another larger circle. However, the girl wasted no time looking at the details of the room. Instead, she went straight to a door in the back of the room. 

She opened it cautiously with her wand gripped tightly in her hand and pointed it straight in front of her. She stepped inside and quietly shut the door behind her. 

This room looked very luxurious like the inside of a small palace. She surveyed the room with her wand following her eyes. She saw no one in the room, and yet there was another door in the back of the room. 

Quickly and cautiously she made for the door, tripped, and fell on the floor. Her wand still gripped tightly in her hand; she swung around to see what had tripped her. She saw a large snake with its fangs coming out of its mouth ready to attack her. She quickly pointed her wand at the snake, and shouted, "Stundeum - Snake!" Yellow sparks flew out of her wand and at the snake. The snake was stunned, and it fell to the floor.

"Hello, you must be Nagini. Do tell you master I dropped by when you awake, will you?" she laughed. "And tell him he might want to look into getting a better guard dog."

She stepped over the large snake and quickly walked to the door and pulled it open. She then walked into a small room with three doors. With so many doors, she was starting to wonder if she'd be able to find her way back out.

"Let's see what's behind door number one," she whispered and opened the door. This door led to some stairs. She stepped on the top step and closed the door behind her. Everything went dark. 

She whispered, "Lumos", and her whisper echoed down the stairwell just as her wand lit up. She pointed it down to see what lay ahead; the stairs looked more like a bottomless pit, and she started to quickly walk down them. It was a spiral staircase, and she quickly walked down them for what seemed like 20 minutes before they ended. She saw a very old dirty looking door. She tried to open it, but it was locked. She pointed her wand to the lock, and whispered, "Alohomora", but the door did not unlock. Thinking, she stood back and pointed her wand toward the door, and said, "Morsmordre." 

Then she stood back and pointed her wand toward the door and quietly said, "Morsmordre", and a green colossal skull shot out of her wand. She whispered, "Alohomora", and instead of the snake turning into a doorknob, it went into the lock of the already existing door.

She heard the dock unlock; the snake slithered out of the lock, and the skull and the snake disappeared. She opened the door, and peaked her head in the room. It looked like a dungeon, old and dirty much like the door with spider webs everywhere. She quickly stepped in and closed the door behind her. 

"Nox," she whispered, and the light from her wand went out. 

The dirt floor had scattered patches of hay. She heard someone moan. The sound made her jump and back up right into a spider web. She got herself untangled from the web and looked up to see a man curled up in a ball on the floor. He had long black hair, messy and tangled on his head. He was filthy and his cloths were torn. What skin you could see through the dirt was bruised, scratched, and covered in blood that was in various stages of drying. She walked towards the man and touched his shoulder. He shuddered with pain, but didn't seem to acknowledge her anymore than that. 

"I thought you might be a little out of it." She took a small vial out of her robes and pressed it to his lips forcing him to drink it. 

The man's pain instantly ceased, as if he were numb, and a sense of joy came over him. He slowly sat up and sighed with tears coming down his face; he looked up at the girl. His eyes widened with amazement. "My Hannah, is it really you?" he asked with a coarse, tired voice. 

"No, my name is Lily. I'm here to help you," she whispered softly to him. "Can you stand? We better leave now before anyone gets back." The man nodded and tried to stand up, but he couldn't because he was chained to the wall. Lily pointed her wand at the chains. "Reducto," she said quietly, and the chains blasted off of him and onto the ground. The man looked at her in amazement. 

"How did you know this place was here? How did you get in? How did you get past everyone?"

"Well, for starters, no one's here. They all left. The rest can wait. We have to go before anyone gets back," she said quickly gesturing him to get up.

He stood up, and they walked to the door. She opened it, and they stepped onto the stairs. "Lumos," she whispered. They quickly ran up the stairs. It didn't seem to take as long as it did before. They were at the door at the top of the stairs in no time. She opened the door, and they walked into the small room with the three doors and the door leading to their way out. 

"Nox," she whispered, and the light at the end of her wand went out. Just then, she heard a sound from behind the door. It sounded like someone was hissing and spitting. She turned to the man terrified.

"It's him!" Lily mouthed. They pressed their ears against the door and listened.

"Wormtail, it seems we have a visitor. A young witch stunned my poor Nagini when she tried to kill her. When I get through with her, she'll be wishing Nagini had bitten her!" the voice said in a somewhat amused tone. "I'm guessing she's here on a rescue mission. How incredibly foolish."

"Do you think they're in the dungeon, my lord?" asked Wormtail.

"We should go and see." 

Fear came over Lily like a heat wave through her body. She was so scared she couldn't move. The man grabbed her arm and pulled her to the third door. He pushed it open and walked in pulling her with him. This door went to a long hall. As they quickly walked down it, they reached a door and pushed it open.

When they opened the door, there was nothing there. There was no room, at least there didn't appear to be. There was no floor, ceiling, or walls. Lily pointed her wand into the empty space and said, "Morsmordre", and a green colossal skull with a serpent protruding from its mouth like a tongue was hovering in the air. What looked like nothing before was now lit by the skull to reveal another door. 

"How did you know how to conjure the Dark Mark?" the man asked suspiciously.

"I watched a man do it outside. That's how I got in here," she explained. "Come on." 

They ran to the door and opened it. They stepped out and looked around. They were standing on the edge of a cliff.

"That's strange. This is where I came in," Lily said quietly. 

"Voldemort would never use the same door that people lower than himself used," the man told her. 

"We better get going," she said turning to face him. When they got out onto the cliff, they shut the door behind them, Lily started to look at the man as if she was trying to ask him a question, but couldn't find the words.

"What is it?" he questioned her.

"Well, you're… - well - you're an Animagus, aren't you?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yes I am, how did y - what does that have to do with anything?" he asked.

"It's just that I am too, and it'll be easier getting down this mountain with four legs," she said.

"Very well, lady's first," he gestured.

At that Lily transformed into the white tiger she had been before, and the man transformed as well, but into an incredibly large black dog. Lily turned and started running back the way she came with the large black dog following her. It had been very late when they started out, and they were still climbing down the mountain when the sun rose the next day. 

All of a sudden, the black dog slipped on a patch of ice and skidded wildly. The tiger quickly turned around and lunged to try and catch him, but it was too late- the dog had fallen and was rolling down the mountain at breakneck speed. He didn't stop until he slammed into a boulder and bounced off into the snow finally lying motionless. The tiger ran as fast as she could without falling herself to get to him. A few minutes later she reached the boulder and saw a man leaning against it rubbing his leg that was stretch out in front of him. She transformed into a human and knelt down next to him. 

"Are you all right?" she asked breathlessly.

"My leg is broken," he replied, shouting over the roaring of the wind.

"Well, you can't make it the rest of the way." 

"I have no choice," he said while trying to stand.

"You have no choice NOT to," she demanded, forcing him to sit down again. 

"What do you suggest we do then?" 

"I don't know. I stayed in a cave last night before climbing the mountain. I could carry you there, go get my broom, and we could fly out of here," she shouted over the howling of the wind.

"You may be able to carry me to this cave as a tiger, but you can't hold me on your broom as a girl."

"Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean that I'm incapable of -" the man cut her off.

"I didn't mean it like that. The fact that you got me out of that place shows you're capable of almost anything, but even you can admit that it's an awfully long and hard fly out of this place. We'll need someone else."

"We'll figure that out when we get to the cave," she said.

"All right," he agreed.

Lily transformed into the tiger, the man put his arms around her neck, and she dragged him through the snow. When they reached a cave, the tiger dragged him into it and leaned him up against the wall. Lily transformed back into herself, conjured up a blanket, and covered the man with it. 

"Thank you, for - for everything. What you did took a lot of courage," said the man as he was shivering under the blanket. 

"You're welcome," she said softly. 

"You look like her, you know," the man said softly. Pausing, she looked at him.

"Look like who?" she asked nervously.

"Your mother," he replied. 

"You mean you - you know who I am?" she asked, shocked, as tears filled her eyes.

"I think I have a pretty good idea."

"How did you know?"

"Besides your black hair, you look exactly like your mother. You get your hair from your father," he said proudly. "You do know that that's who I am, right?" 

"Yes, why else would I have come searching for you?"

"How did you find me?"

"I made a potion. The experience is somewhat like a Pensieve. After making it, you touch the substance that's in the cauldron. It captures you, and it shows you where the person that you're looking for is." 

"I've never heard of a potion like that before," he told her.

"That's because I invented it," she told him matter-of-factly, hoping to impress him.

"You invented a potion?"

"Yes, I did. When I was little, I was told about my mother- how her brother kidnapped her and no one saw her since. I wanted to find her," she explained. 

"I mean, no one saw her dead, so I guess I always thought she was alive. When I started school, I had an idea of making a potion. It took me three years to do it, but I never found her. I tested it by finding some of my friends, so it did work. I didn't know you were alive until I heard that you escaped Azkaban. I made the potion, and I found you, but I just followed you around and watched you. I was too afraid to go to you; I didn't know what I would say or do, so I just watched you."

She took a deep breath. "The last time I tried to find you, I saw that you were being abused and held prisoner by Lord Voldemort. I couldn't just barge right into Voldemort's secret headquarters and walk out with you. I needed a plan. I had to be prepared for anything and everything, so I researched everything I could. I learned as many spells as my brain could handle. I prepared myself for everything, and I followed Lord Voldemort around the headquarters, so that I could listen in on him, and know when he would be leaving, so that I could sneak in and get you. When everything was ready, I came here and got you. Still, I didn't know how frightening it would be, when I heard Voldemort speaking Parseltongue, I couldn't breathe or move. So really, I should be thanking you for getting us out of there. If you hadn't of pulled me out of there I'd be dead."

"You're quite an amazing girl. Did you know that? You created a potion to find people, you used it to followed Lord Voldemort around for Merlin knows how long, and he never even knew. You saved my life, and now you're giving all of the credit to me. You really are just like your mother," he told her with a sense of pride in his voice.

"Thank you," she said as the present circumstances dawned on her. "We can talk more, later, when we're safe. Right now we need to come up with a plan and fast, so that we can get as far away from this place as possible"

"Well you can't go to Dumbledore, you'd probably never find him, and I don't think that any owls live in this kind of weather. You could go t -to Harry," the man said uncertainly. 

"Harry? You mean Harry Potter!" she exclaimed. 

"Yes, he's my godson. I know he would help, but I'm not sure that it's safe for him to be this close to Voldemort."

"Well, he also might be upset if he finds out that he didn't get to help you when he could've," she said. "I should go then. I know someone that can tell me where he is." She got up and brushed the snow off her robes. 

"I would have given anything to find you. You need to know that. I searched. I - I looked everywhere, but I couldn't find you or your mother. I loved your mother more than anything in the world, and we both loved you so much and couldn't wait for you to come into this world. She would be so proud of you, as I am." Tears started to pour out of Lily's eyes, and she fell in his arms and hugged him. 

"I love you, Lily," he told her as she was in his arms.

"I love you too, Father." She pulled away and smiled at him. "We can talk more when we're safe." 

Lily turned around and transformed into the white tiger. 

"Be safe and don't come back if it isn't!" the man yelled after her, and the tiger left the cave and bounded off into the snow. 


	2. Pavilion Mountain

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Chapter 2: Pavilion Mountain

It was Midnight and everyone on Privet Drive was asleep, at least almost everyone. Everyone except a boy named Harry Potter, who was sitting on his bed doing his homework. 

Harry's parents died when he was a year old, and he was sent to live with his Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia (his mother's sister), and their son Dudley. The Dursleys weren't particularly fond of magic; in fact they hated it. 

Usually at the beginning of every summer holiday the Dursleys took all of Harry's schoolbooks, his wand, and his broom, and put them in the cupboard under the stairs, but this year was different. 

When Harry got off of the Hogwarts Express some of his dad's old friends threatened the Dursleys and told them that they better take good care of Harry or "they'd have to answer to them!" So this year the Dursleys were being particularly nice to Harry, well maybe not nice, but they let him keep his school things in his room with him. Unlike in the past he didn't have to hide doing his schoolwork. He could do it whenever he liked, as long as he did it in his room. 

This year had been easier for Harry. The Ministry now believed him about Voldemort's return, no one was saying he was insane or evil, he had the Daily Prophet delivered so that he could keep up with the daily news, and Dumbledore himself sent Harry owls often to keep him informed about what was going on. Ron and Hermione too, sent an owl everyday telling him of the latest news. 

He didn't feel so distant like he did last year. The only thing he had to deal with this year was the pain in the pit of his stomach every time he thought about his Godfather Sirius Black. 

When Sirius died, the thought of him was completely unbearable. When he got back to Number Four Private Drive, it all just seemed like a really bad dream that he couldn't seem to wake up from. It was as if he was numb. 

Harry couldn't really think about anything else. He played Sirius's death in his mind as if it were a movie, over and over. He remembered how everything happened, the look on Sirius's face, the spell that made Sirius fall, the feelings he first felt when it all happened, everything. Now when he replayed it back in his mind, it was as if he was beyond tears. He wasn't numb to everything, just upset. 

It was nice to know everything that was going on in the wizarding world, but it was also nice to take a break from it all. The events of last year had drained him. 

The never-ending voice of Professor Trelawney from in the Pensieve, "…neither can live while the other survives." This means that either he, Harry, or Voldemort would have to die. 

Would he, have to defeat Lord Voldemort? Would Lord Voldemort kill him? He couldn't bare the thought of having to face this man again. Sure he'll be sixteen tomorrow, but that's still only sixteen. 

Perhaps Dumbledore will come up with something that would help him defeat Voldemort and Harry will just have to follow instructions. Somehow he had a feeling that it would play out like that though.

He knew that he would have to face the Dark Lord. He just didn't know how he was going to be able to defeat him. Everyone thinks that he's some sort of savior because he defeated Voldemort, but it was a spell Harry's mother used to protect him that weakened Voldemort. He didn't do anything. 

After watching Sirius die, Harry was more afraid of death than ever before. Yes, his parents died, but in away they were ready. At least there lives were in order. Sirius didn't even get a trial and everyone (besides those in the order) still thinks that he's a convicted murderer. How he wished he could clear Sirius' name. 

To take his mind off of all of these thoughts, Harry did his homework. Finishing his Potions essay, Harry picked up the parchment and read quietly to himself:

_"The Invisableach Potion is a potion which is used to soak cloaks in, in order to make an invisibility cloak. Some of the ingredients include a dragon's liver, dust scraped off of a unicorn's horn, and the hair of a centaur. All of these ingredients are nearly impossible to acquire, which is why invisibility cloaks are so rare"_

"No wonder why Centaur's don't like men. I can't imagine trying to go through all that work to sly a dragon just to get it's liver, that is if you can kill a dragon without killing yourself first," he thought to himself. After doing this essay he was glad he inherited his invisibility cloak from his father, but it also made him wonder where his father had gotten it. 

He had started to get very tired so he decided to put his homework away and go to sleep. Just as he stood to start gathering his things to put them away, he saw an owl flying to his window. 

It wasn't Hedwig because she was in her cage. "It must be something from Dumbledore," he thought, but Dumbledore had already sent him a letter today. The owl flew in and landed on his bed. He took the letter from it, but it didn't fly away or anything. It just stood there looking up at him, which he thought was strange, but he opened the letter and read it just the same. 

_Harry,_

I do hope you're all right and that the Muggles are treating you well. I spoke with Dumbledore and we decided that you have been there long enough. Mad-Eye, Tonks, and I are coming and get you. Don't worry about the Muggles, we'll take care of them. There's no need for alarm we just think that there's no reason for you to stay there any longer than you have to. Send this owl back with a short 

response telling us that you got this letter unopened. We'll be there tomorrow at 10:00p.m. 

See you then,

Remus Lupin 

"They're coming to get me? Now? The holiday isn't even over yet," Harry said to the owl that nipped at his fingers impatiently. "Oh right, just a second." He took out a blank piece of parchment and wrote a short message, just as Lupin had instructed. He put his quill down and read: 

_Lupin,_

I received your letter unopened. 

See you then,

Harry

He folded the piece of parchment and gave it to the owl. The owl ruffled its feathers importantly and flew back out the window. 

Harry was so exited he could hardly contain himself. He had been glad to get away from everything and relax, but that was when he thought he had four weeks left of the holiday to spend on Privet Drive. 

Harry tried all that night to sleep, but his excitement wouldn't let him lay still long enough to fall asleep. He wondered where he would stay, if the Order were still staying at Sirius's old house, how would he, Harry feel about being there without Sirius. 

But the thought of spending his birthday, for the first time with friends kept a broad grin on his face as he laid on his bed too exited to fall asleep. 

The next morning he ran down the stairs for breakfast, still in disbelief that he was soon going to leave Number Four Private Drive and probably fly to 12 Grimmauld Place, and spend his birthday with all of his friends. 

The day seemed to never end. Evan Dudley noticed he wasn't being his usual depressed self. "What are you so happy about?" he said as he took Harry's grapefruit (which was no bigger than a small sliver) off his plate and ate it. Harry didn't care though; after all, he would be leaving tonight. 

At that thought he grabbed an unpeeled Grapefruit off of the counter and started to peal it. His shocked aunt, uncle, and cousin sat at the table staring at him, until his Uncle Vernon broke the silence. 

"What do you think you're doing boy?" he asked outraged.

"I was hungry and Dudley stole my grapefruit," he said matter-of-factly. "Why?"

"Why? What do you mean why? Everyone in the house is on a diet, that's why," Uncle Vernon said his face was getting more and more purple by the minute. 

"Fine I'll go outside then," Harry said casually while walking out of the kitchen (not looking at his uncle). Uncle Vernon ran in front of Harry, and stood between him and the kitchen door, and put his finger in Harry's face.

"Now you listen here boy. We didn't have to let you come back and live here again this year. We didn't have to let you keep your books in your room, but we did, and this is the thanks we get?"

"You didn't let me do anything; Dumbledore made sure you let me stay here, and you let me keep school things in my room because your afraid of Mad-Eye Moody," said Harry in a commanding voice. 

"Afraid? That's preposterous! I'm not afraid of anyone, especially this May-Eye character," shouted Uncle Vernon getting right in Harry face.

"Well you won't have to worry about that for long, now will you?" asked Harry calmly standing his ground.

"What are you going on about now Potter?" Uncle Vernon asked nervously, stepping back from Harry. 

"Now there's no need for you to worry about it, is there?" he said as Uncle Vernon stood there looking completely bewildered. Harry seized this moment to push through Uncle Vernon and go upstairs. 

This argument with Uncle Vernon didn't hinder his good mood at all. He simple brushed it off and continued eating his grapefruit giving the last slice of it to Hedwig and took out his _Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland_ book Hermione had gotten him a few years ago for Christmas and started to read it. Though he practically had it memorized, he hadn't read it in awhile. 

The lack of sleep from the night before seemed to be catching up to him and he slowly fell asleep. When he woke up, it was dark. He looked at his large clock on his bedside table it said 9:15p.m. Where had the time gone? He hadn't even started packing yet. He got up, pulled out his trunk, and started to pack. He took out his wand and used magic to clean Hedwig's cage. 

He paced the room quickly and looked everywhere to make sure he didn't forget anything, he hadn't. He looked at his clock; it said 9:55p.m. When he had finished packing, he heard the doorbell ring and Aunt Petunia answer it.

"Hello can I help you?" she inquired sounding completely discussed.

"Yes ma'am we're here for Harry Potter," said a familiar voice. Harry opened his door and went down the stairs, as Uncle Vernon went to the door.

"What are you doing here?" shouted Uncle Vernon furiously.

"He said he was here for me," Harry said from behind Uncle Vernon with a big grin on his face, as he saw Lupin, Mad-Eye, and Tonks standing in the doorway. 

"Hello Harry. How are you doing?" asked Lupin.

"I'm fine. Why don't you come in? I'll just go and get my things" Harry said quickly as he turned and went up the stairs to his room. 

He heard the front door shut and Made-Eye harshly talking to Uncle Vernon, though he couldn't make out what he was saying, he knew it couldn't be good. 

Just as he picked up Hedwig's cage he heard something coming from his window. He put Hedwig's cage down, and went over to his window, and looked out. He didn't see anything, shrugged his shoulders, went back to get Hedwig's cage, and heard the noise again. 

He turned around and saw a girl with long black flowing hair and blue eyes staring back at him with a broom in her hand. 

She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen before. He felt a lump in his throat, and had to remind himself how to breathe. All he wanted to do was to know this girl, whoever she was, wherever she came from. He wanted to know everything. He stared in her deep blue eyes for what seemed like forever until he finally asked, "Who are you?" 

"My name is Lily, and I need your help," she said softly.

"Why should I help you? I don't even know you." 

"Then don't help me; help someone you do know," she said stepping towards him. He didn't know what to think, but one thing was for sure, whoever this girl was he felt like he could trust her. It felt like he knew her, but he had never seen her before in his life.

"Help who? What do you want me to do?" he asked her.

"I want you to come with me," she told him and at that he stepped back away from her. Could he trust her? Was this another one of Voldemort's tricks?

"How did you find me?" he asked her. She stepped to the side revealing a small house elf that had been standing next to her, smiling back at him. "Dobby? What are you doing here?" 

"Helping Miss Lily," said Dobby matter-of-factly in his small squeaky voice. "Harry Potter must hurry, for someone he cares for dearly could be killed."

"Who Dobby? Who could be killed?" Harry asked the house elf.

"Dobby cannot say, he likes Miss Lily and keeps her secrets. Harry Potter must trust Miss Lily and hurry," he said looking up at Harry.

"Harry, are you all right up there?" he heard Tonks yell up the stairs. 

Lily went up to Harry, got an inch from his face, and put her hand on his check. "Please, there's not much time. We must go. Please help me. You and I are the only ones that can do this," she said to him with tears in her eyes. He went his bedroom door and yelled down the stairs, "Yes, I'm fine. I just got a little visit from Dobby the house elf that's all. I'll be down in a minute." 

"All right Harry, but hurry we have to leave now, or we'll be late," Tonks yelled back up the stairs. 

"Okay, I'll be right down," he yelled and went back to Lily. "Okay I'll help you, but this better not be a trap!" he told her harshly. 

"Thank you. You'll need your broom. Dobby will tell everyone you've gone, and that you're safe," she told him as she took a letter out of her pocket, went over to Hedwig, and took her out of her cage. "Bring this to Dumbledore. Fly faster than you've ever flown in your life," and at this Hedwig flew out the window and out of sight. "Come on we must go. Are you ready?" she asked. Harry nodded, and went over and got his Firebolt. 

Lily made a thick cloak appear out of nowhere from her wand, and handed it to Harry. "You'll need this. Be very quiet and keep close to me," she told him as she flew out the window. 

"Be safe Harry Potter," said Dobby as Harry put the cloak on, mounted his broom, and flew out the window. 

They flew for what seemed like forever. A million thoughts went through his mind. Why did he trust this girl he didn't even know? Why was Dobby helping her? How did she know Dobby? Where were they going? Who was this girl, and why were the two of them the only ones that could do this? What were they doing? Who could die? Did Lupin and everyone know that he was gone yet? What did the letter say that she gave Hedwig to deliver to Dumbledore? 

He had been sweating in the thick cloak before, but now he was getting colder and it was snowing fiercely. The wind was blowing so hard that he had to struggle to keep his broom on course. 

He stopped and looked; he couldn't see Lily anymore. Then a hand came and swept across his back, and she leaned into him putting her cheek to his, and whispered in his ear, "It's just over there. Fly close" she pulled away, and he followed her closely. 

What was she talking about? What is over there? Did he trust her because she was trustworthy or because he was attracted to her? She was very pretty. She was a lot prettier than Cho Chang was. 

He saw her fly downward and closely followed. They reached the ground, and both got off their brooms. He followed her into a cave. 

"Where are we?" he commanded. 

"Pavilion Mountain. We're at the base of it. At the top is Lord Voldemort's secret headquarters. No one knows it's here except a few of his followers," she whispered to him while she was cautiously looking around the cave. 

"Then how do you know it's here? Are you one of his followers? I THOUGHT YOU SAID THIS WASN'T A TRAP?" he shouted grabbing his wand and pointed it at her.

"Shhhh, you mustn't be so loud! It's not a trap," she whispered back to him, ignoring his wand and continuing her search. "Where is he? He was right here," she said as tears came running down her face. "They must have found him."

"They didn't find anything," said a formulary course voice. "Harry put your wand down that's no way to treat a lady. I guess I still have much to teach you." Harry froze as he heard the man. 

"Lumos." He heard Lily say to her wand. Tears started to run down Harry's face as he saw who it was, but it couldn't be. It wasn't possible. He saw him die. Or did he? He just saw him fall. This was too much to take. He ran, fell to Sirius' side, and started to weep uncontrollably in front of the man whom he thought was dead, his Godfather, Sirius Black.


	3. Lily Black: The Empath

**Chapter 3: Lily Black - The Empath**

"Harry, it's all right. Everything is going to be fine," Sirius said with tears running down his face. Harry fell into Sirius' arms. 

All of the pain and sorrow he felt over the last few months seemed to be coming out. The visions of watching Sirius die; it was all wrong, all of it. Sirius wasn't dead. 

Harry had his godfather back. The person that was more like a father to him than anyone had ever been was alive! A rush of joy came over him, and he stopped crying. "I thought you were dead. What happened? How did you get out of the Ministry? Where have you been?" Harry asked him. 

It felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off of his chest, and he could finally breathe. Sirius looked up at him; he had stopped crying too, but he still had tears in his eyes. 

"It's a long story. I'll tell you later once we get - LILY!!!" Sirius yelled as Lily fell to the floor. 

Harry ran over to her. "She fainted," he told Sirius. 

"There's not much time now. You must get her out of here now!!" he told Harry in a very urgent tone. 

Harry looked at him confused. "Why? What's happened to her? What about you? I can't -" 

"Harry, my leg's broken, and I'm too weak to get out of here on my own, but you have to get her out of here!" he said quickly nodding in Lily's direction.

Harry didn't know what to do. Should he leave his godfather to die and help the girl that found him or let her die and save his godfather? 

"I won't leave you!! There must be another way!!!" he shouted at Sirius.

"You have to save her now Harry, go!!"

Harry was quickly trying to come up with a plan as something appeared in the entrance of the cave. It looked like a very large silhouette of a man. For a moment Harry thought it was a wizard, Voldemort or one of his followers perhaps. Fear struck him as he realized he couldn't do anything now. As it got closer, it got smaller and smaller, and it started to run to him. 

"Miss Lily!! What's happened to Miss Lily, Harry Potter?" asked a small squeaky voice.

"Dobby? What are you doing here?" Harry asked the small house elf.

"Dobby was worried about Harry Potter and Miss Lily, so he went to find them, sir. How is Harry Potter going to get away from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," Dobby shuddered, "with Mr. Black and Miss Lily, sir?" Dobby asked Harry with tears streaming down his face.

"Could you help me Dobby?"

"Dobby - help Harry Potter? It would be an honor, sir," Dobby started crying even more.

"Dobby," called Sirius making Dobby jump. "Dobby, do you think that you could bind me to you and fly a broom out of here?"

"Sir, Dobby has never flown a broom. Dobby could use his magic to bind the broom to Harry Potter's

broom."

"Yes, that would work. Harry, you take Lily on your broom, and we'll trail behind." 

"Okay," Harry stood up and took out his wand. "Accio Firebolt."

Harry's broom flew through the cave and floated in the air next to him perfectly leveled for him to mount it. He put his wand in his pocket and picked Lily up. He mounted his broom and turned Lily around as if she was riding it herself. He held her with one hand around her waist and one hand on his broom. 

"Dobby is ready, Harry Potter," Dobby told him. 

"So am I," he replied.

Dobby turned to look at Sirius. "Dobby has heard many bad things about Mr. Black, but if Harry Potter and Miss Lily love him and wants to help him, than Dobby loves Mr. Black too. And he will save him," Dobby said proudly.

"Thank you, Dobby," said Sirius as Dobby and Harry flew out of the cave with Harry holding Lily and Sirius bound to Dobby flying behind. 

Harry tried as hard as he could to remember how to get out. He hadn't really paid much attention before. It was harder for him to keep on course because the wind was fiercer than it had been before and this time he only had one hand to steady himself. 

It was so cold it felt as if his face was frozen. Then he remembered that Sirius hadn't had a cloak on. He stopped. 

"DOBBY?" he yelled over the loud thundering of the wind and snow. 

"What's wrong Harry Potter?" cried Dobby.

"Can you put something on Sirius to keep him warm?" he asked Dobby.

"Dobby already used his magic to keep him warm, sir." 

"Okay, thank you." He instantly felt relieved. What would he have done without Dobby? He could have lost Sirius again.

"HARRY, IS EVERYTHING ALL RIGHT?" Harry heard Sirius yell. 

"YES, I'VE JUST LOST MY WAY," he answered. 

"TAKE OUT YOUR WAND, POINT IT TO YOUR BROOM, AND SAY 12 GRIMMAULD PLACE YOU KNOW THE WAY," Sirius yelled.

"OKAY," he yelled back. 

He leaned down so that the arm holding Lily could also hold the broom handle. As hard as it had been to keep his broom steady when he was flying, it was even harder to do it staying still. He managed it, got his wand out, pointed it at his broom, and said, "12 Grimmauld Place you know the way." 

It was as if his broom took on a life of it's own and started soaring through the sky. He had no time to put his wand back in his pocket. He had to hold Lily with his arm that he was holding his wand with and hold on to his broom with his other hand to keep from falling off. 

It got warmer and brighter as they went. He was getting very weak. His grip on his broom was so tight that he lost feeling in his arm, but he put every last bit of strength that he had into staying on his broom and holding Lily. Then his broom came to an abrupt stop and he fell off with Lily in his arms. 

Dobby ran up to him looking very exhausted himself. "Is Harry Potter okay?" he cried at Harry's side. 

Harry just laid there too tired to move or speak. Dobby got up and ran to the door of the house that they were in front of. "HELP!!" he pounded on the door, screaming and crying. "PLEASE HELP HARRY POTTER AND MISS LILY!!! PLEASE HURRY!!"

The door opened, and Dumbledore stepped out. "Where are they?" he asked Dobby as he saw Harry and Lily and ran to their sides. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley ran outside. 

"HARRY!!!" Mrs. Weasley screamed. 

Harry tried to get up and say something, anything, but he couldn't. 

"It's all right Harry; it will all be all right." Harry heard Dumbledore say as he drifted off into a deep sleep. 

Hours later he woke up and reached for his glasses on the table next to him. After putting them on he looked around and saw that he was at Black Manor in the room he stayed in the last time he was there. 

"It's about time you woke up!" said Ron with a grin on his face. Harry looked over next to him and saw 

that Ron and Hermione were sitting next to his bed.

"How are you feeling?" Hermione asked him concerned. 

"I'm alright," he reassured her. Then he remembered everything that had just happened, and he quickly sat up. "Where are Sirius and Lily? Are they okay?"

"Dumbledore got the letter from Lily and Madam Pomfrey was already here when you got here. She healed Sirius. He wouldn't let anyone near Lily, and he made a potion and gave it to her to help her. He's in with her now; she's not awake yet. Madam Pomfrey doesn't know if she'll be okay or not. She keeps saying how she's never seen anything like it before. Whatever that means," Hermione informed him.

"I want to go see Sirius." he told them. They nodded and showed him to the room without saying anything. 

"We should go tell everyone Harry's awake and help your mom with dinner, right Ron?" Hermione asked Ron implying to him that they should leave Harry alone with Sirius. 

"Yeah, we'll see you later," Ron told Harry and turned around and walked down the stairs with Hermione. 

Just as Harry had opened the door, he heard Ron shout half way down they stairs, "Oh and Harry, Happy Birthday." They smiled at each other, and Harry went into the room. 

Lily was lying on Sirius's bed, and Sirius was sitting on the bed next to her, just looking at her, and holding her hand. 

Harry walked over and sat in the chair that was next to bed. "Who is she?" he asked Sirius. 

Not looking away from Lily he said, "She's my daughter.

"When your father and I went to Hogwarts, I met a girl named Hannah. She was Lily's best friend, and she was in Hufflepuff. I fell in love with her the moment I saw her. We started going out in our third year and were together ever since.

"Lily and James got married and were expecting you when I asked her to marry me. She said yes, and a few weeks later she told me that she was pregnant.

"It was dark times, but I was the happiest man alive. Her brother was a Death Eater. When he found out she was pregnant with my child, he kidnapped her, one-week before our wedding. 

"I tried to find her. We all did, James, Lily, Lupin, Peter, Dumbledore, all of us, but we never found her. I thought she was dead. I called off the search, but I myself never stopped looking for her." He paused, took a deep breath, and continued. 

"I searched when I escaped from Azkaban, and when I was in hiding I searched for her everyday. We were going to go to the Bahamas on our honeymoon, so when I went into hiding that's the first place I went. I never found her. 

"I assumed her brother had indeed killed her and our child. That was until I saw Lily. She found me in the dungeon where Voldemort kept me. She looks so much like her mother; I thought she was at first. When she told me her name was Lily, I knew she was our daughter. I can't think of any other name that my Hannah would have given her, but the one of her best friend," he paused again with tears in his eyes and a smile came a crossed his face. 

"She has my hair," he laughed. "Hannah had gorgeous white blonde hair. You would have sworn she was a veela upon first sight. When I first met her I thought I was in some sort of trance. I couldn't move or breathe, it was all the love that she possessed that made her so wonderful. She was so kind. The kindest person I ever met. She was _so_ beautiful, I can honestly say that her daughter is as beautiful as she was," he stopped, smiling at Lily, and gently stroked her hand.

"What happened to her? Why did she faint?" Harry asked quietly with tears in his eyes, imagining the pain Sirius must have been feeling. Sirius looked up at Harry and began to explain. 

"You see, my Hannah wasn't just a normal witch, she was an Empath," seeing the confused look on Harry's face he started to explain. "An Empath is a woman who can channel into other people's feelings and know what they're feeling. If they don't know how to control their power and they're around people with strong emotions. . ." he stopped briefly and sighed. "If the emotion is strong enough, then it can be too much for them to handle, and they become weak, and it can even keep weakening them until they die. 

"I assume Lily has her mother's gift. When we were in the cave, the emotions you and I were feeling were almost too much for us to handle, and she had to handle both of our emotions along with her own."

"Will she be okay?" Harry asked him. 

"There is an ancient potion that will help her weaken the emotions instead of the emotions weakening her. Her mother had to use it often when I first met her, being in a school full of teenagers, at least until she learned how to control her power. I made the potion and gave it to Lily. It will take awhile, but she should be fine," Sirius told Harry who instantly felt relieved. 

Sirius then turned back and stared at Lily with tears streaming down his face, and the room went silent. The next morning Harry awoke in Lily's room. He had fallen asleep in the chair next to her bed. He looked up and saw Sirius still staring at Lily. His face was stained with tears from crying all night, but he now seemed to be beyond tears.

He was pale, his eyes were puffy, he hadn't washed since he'd been back, and it looked as if he hadn't moved from that same spot since he'd been back, and indeed he hadn't. 

"There hasn't been any change in her?" Harry asked Sirius softly, startling him. 

"Harry, I didn't know you were awake," he said not looking up from Lily. "No, there hasn't been any change."

"Sirius?" he asked apprehensively. 

"Yes, Harry?" he responded, wiping the face with his hand and looking up at him.

"I'm sorry for what you had to go through loosing your fiancé and everything," Harry told Sirius, and at these words Sirius stood up and went over to Harry who stood up as well.

"Thank you," Sirius told him and put his arms around him and hugged him, the way a father would hug a son. 

Harry was so happy to have his godfather back. He wanted to talk to him, to tell him everything that he went through since he had seen him last, to ask him what had happened, but it wasn't the time or place. Sirius was going through his own struggle right now, but that was okay he would wait. He had all the time in the world. 

Sirius pulled away and smiled at him. "Harry, you've been like a son to me since the day you were born, and your father was a brother to me since the day I met him. We have all suffered from the wrath of Voldemort, but this time we will defeat him. We will do whatever it takes to defeat him, for the ones we have lost and for the pain he has caused us." 

"I don't know about you, but I think that sounds exhausting," they heard soft, faint voice say. They both looked at Lily, who had just woken up.

Sirius got a big grin on his face. "How are you feeling?" he asked her.

"Well that's a bit of a stupid question to ask a girl who's been in a coma for a day," she told him sarcastically as she tried to sit up. Sirius went over and helped her, propping her pillow up behind her.

"How did you know it's only been a day?" Harry asked her.

"Well, I don't really know how to explain it, but it was like I was watching myself sleep. Like I was someone else looking down at me," she explained. "I heard everything you said about mother," she looked up at Sirius tearfully.

"I'm sorry Lily. I would have done anything to find you and your mother. I would have died myself, if I knew it would ensure your safety," Sirius told her as he sat down on the bed next to her.

"I know. It wasn't your fault," she said to him softly as tears started to gently fall from her eyes. 

"Where have you been all these years? What happened to your mother? Is she -" 

"I don't know. I don't remember her. I was told she died. When Voldemort was well - gone I guess, Mother's brother was killed. A man found me at his house, but he didn't tell anyone that he found me. He just brought me to my grandmother house, and she took me in. The man said that he knew my mother. He had come to visit me from time to time, and though my grandmother didn't like him, she let him see me. 

"When my grandmother died, he adopted me, and I moved with him to France. He worked at Hogwarts, and he flooed there everyday, leaving me with Mother's house elf, Quincy. 

"He never let me go to England. He said that it was to complicated for me to understand why. When it was time for me to go to school I went to Beauxbatons. A few years ago I asked him again about who I was. He told me everything that he knew. He said that my mother had been killed and that you were my father. He never told me anything bad about you even though it always seemed like he wanted to. He just told me about how much you loved Mother and would love me if you had met me. I love him dearly, and he's done the best to raise me, but I still felt like I was missing something. 

"When you escaped from Azkaban, I confronted him and asked him why he had never told me that you were still alive. He explained. He told me that you did it because you had gone mad after Mother was kidnapped and that he didn't tell me because he didn't want me to think poorly of my father."

"That's not true. I was innocent, but no one knew that until after I escaped," Sirius quickly added in his defense.

"It didn't matter to me. I wanted to find you either way, just to talk to you. It took me a few years to invent a potion that would help me find you, and I did. I planned everything out, left a note explaining myself on my desk, and went to get you."

"I still can't imagine how a witch as young as you, could invent a potion to find me," Sirius said in complete awe of her.

"Well, Uncle Severus is the Potions Master at Hogwarts -" at this Sirius' eyes widened and he was completely shocked, but Lily still went on, "- so I've always been good with potions, and I started to create my own when I started school."

"I'm sorry, I must have heard you wrong. Did you say Uncle Severus was the man that raised you?" Sirius asked her, hoping he had heard her wrong.

"Well he's not really my uncle now is he? But I call him that anyway," she said matter-of-factly.

"Severus Snape?" Sirius asked in shock.

"Yes, Severus Snape," she answered him.


	4. She's My Daughter

**Chapter 4: She's My Daughter**

Dobby the house elf walked in the room, and Sirius put his anger aside. Harry could see that it was only for Lily's sake though, because once he heard the name Severus, he had that look in his eyes. The same look that he had when he and Snape got into that fight in the kitchen last year. The look like he wanted to kill Snape, but neither of them said anything because they didn't want to upset Lily. Dobby however saw that Lily was awake and ran to her side gleefully. 

"Is Miss Lily feeling better?" he asked her. 

"Yes, I'm feeling much better. Thank you, Dobby," she told him.

"Dobby was worried about Miss Lily. As was Harry Potter and Mr. Black. They slept in here all night Miss. Well, Harry Potter fell asleep, Miss, but Mr. Black was too worried to sleep. He sat next to you and cried all night, not sleeping a wink, Miss Lily," Dobby told her in a squeaky concerned voice.

"Well I'm feeling all right now Dobby," she reassured him.

"Dobby did as you asked, Miss. When you and Harry Potter left, I waited until they came upstairs and asked Dobby where Harry Potter was, Miss. Mr. Lupin asked Dobby where Harry Potter was. Dobby looked up at Mr. Lupin and said, 'Harry Potter went to help Miss Lily'. Miss Tonks asked who Miss Lily was, and Dobby said 'Miss Lily is Mr. Black's daughter.' Mr. Lupin says, 'Sirius Black?' And Dobby says to him, 'Yes sir, Sirius Black'. Mr. Lupin looked angry, yes he did, and he said to Dobby, 'Dobby, Sirius Black doesn't have a daughter.' Dobby says to him, 'Oh yes he does. Miss Lily is Mr. Black and Miss. Hannah's daughter. I helped Quincy deliver her when she was born, and Dobby has visited her ever since.' And - and -" Dobby stopped, his eyes filling up with tears. 

"And what Dobby? What happened?" Lily asked him softly, gesturing him to sit on her lap, so he climbed up on the bed, sat on her lap, and finished telling her what had happened. 

"And Miss. Tonks fell to the floor crying. There was nothing Dobby could say to make her stop. Mr. Lupin started to cry too. Mr. Lupin helped Miss. Tonks up and held her in his arms, and the more he tried to comfort her, the more he started to cry. Mr. Moody yelled at Dobby and he said, 'What are you going on about elf? Where did they go?' He scared Dobby, Miss, but Dobby looked him right in the eye, and Dobby said, 'They went to save Mr. Back.' And he yelled at Dobby again Miss, he said, 'Sirius Black is dead.' And Dobby says to him, 'No, Miss Lily found him, and she needed Harry Potter's help to get him from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.' Dobby shuddered. Mr. Moody says to Dobby, 'Where did they go elf?" And Dobby says, "To a secret place no one knows of.' I told him that Miss Lily used Harry Potter's owl to send a letter to Dumbledore, telling him to meet her at Black Manor at 12 Grimmauld Place. And Dobby says, 'Miss. Lily asked Dobby to bring Harry Potter's things there and wait for them.' Mr. Moody was not happy with Dobby," Dobby shuddered at the thought. "But Dobby did as Miss Lily told him, and when Dobby got to Black Manor he told Dumbledore too," Dobby looked up at her proud of his accomplishment, and Lily smiled down at him.

"Very good Dobby," she told approvingly, and he raised his head proudly.

"Dobby was quite the hero. He came into the cave and helped me get you and Sirius out. I couldn't have done it without him," Harry informed her. 

"Is that so Dobby?" Lily said smiling at the small house elf.

"Dobby was worried Miss, so he went looking for Miss Lily to see if he could help. Miss Lily isn't mad at Dobby, is she?" Dobby asked hesitantly. 

"Of course not, why would I be? You did everything I asked of you, and you saved my life. I'm very, very pleased with you Dobby," she told him, and Dobby flapped his ears in delight.

"Miss Lily must eat. Mrs. Weasley is making Miss Lily some food. Miss Lily must eat so that she can regain her strength," Dobby told her as Mrs. Weasley walked in the room with a food tray. 

"Good morning dear, I do hope I'm not disturbing anything," Mrs. Weasley said looking at Sirius.

"No Molly, you're not disturbing anything. I already talked to Lily about her mother," Sirius assured her knowingly. 

"Yes, your mother was a wonderful woman who loved your father very much," she told Lily as she set the tray on Lily's bed. "When we all saw Sirius after he escaped Azkaban, he had this look in his eyes, an empty incomplete look. My husband told me that Azkaban did it to him, and I told him no, that he had that look after he lost his Hannah," she stopped herself. "I'm sorry Sirius," she told him sympathetically as he put his hand up. 

"It's all right Molly." 

"Well, anyway, it's good to know that look's gone. I think you're just what your father needed Lily. You look so much like your mother." She hugged Lily and turned to Sirius, "It's good to have you back Sirius." 

"Thank you Molly."

"Sirius, when you're ready, I will make your breakfast. Well, I must be off. Dobby make sure she eats that, will you?" Mrs. Weasley asked Dobby.

"Yes Ma'am every bite," Dobby reassured her, and Mrs. Weasley left the room. 

After Lily was done eating, Sirius turned to her. "Lily, you need to get some rest. Will you be all right without me?" 

"Yes, I'll be fine," she told him.

"Dobby will you stay here with Lily and make sure she rests?" Sirius asked Dobby and he nodded as Sirius turned to Harry. "Why don't you come with me and get something to eat?" 

"Okay, I hope you feel better, Lily," Harry told her and walked out of the room following Sirius.

"She's beautiful isn't she?" Sirius asked Harry as they walked down the hall.

"Yeah," Harry said with a grin on his face, forgetting that he was talking to Lily's father and not just his own godfather. 

"Don't worry, I don't blame you for looking. Her mother was just as breathtaking. Harry?" Sirius paused. "I know there must be a million things running through your mind right now, but lets just eat and we can talk later all right?"

"All right," Harry said as they started to walk again. 

He was glad to have his Godfather back. He always seemed to know what he was thinking and feeling. They walked down most of the stairs when Sirius paused and started to listen. Harry looked at him questionably. 

"Sirius, what is it?" 

"Harry, do you have your wand with you?" Sirius asked urgently.

"Yes, of course. Why?" he questioned him.

"Let me see it," he commanded. 

Harry didn't question his godfather; he just gave him his wand. Sirius went down the rest of the stairs and down to the kitchen with Harry trailing him. 

Sirius opened the kitchen door furiously; everyone was in there, but Sirius didn't pay any attention. With Harry's wand ready, he yelled "Flistagnous", and Snape, who had been standing at the table talking to Dumbledore, was slammed into to wall and stuck a few feet above the grown, unable to move. 

"YOU!" Sirius yelled. 

"Sirius, I can explain," Snape yelled hanging from the wall in pain.

"Explain what? Explain how while I was in Azkaban, you were raising my daughter? Why were you in such a hurry for the Dementor's to kill me? Was it really about a schoolboy grudge? Explain to me, when I escaped Azkaban and the Order came here to Black Manor, why you still didn't tell me that my daughter was alive? You evil, conniving bustard, YOU CAME INTO MY HOUSE AND LIED TO MY FACE!" Sirius was getting louder, and the louder he got, the more tears ran down his face.

He lowered Harry's wand and let Snape down. "You knew that I was still looking for Hannah and our child. That's why Remus was gone so much and didn't just stay here like the Weasley's. He was out looking for her because I couldn't. And you - you knew and said nothing. You came into my house, helped the Order, and taunted me because I couldn't leave the manor, and then you went home and raised MY DAUGHTER!" Sirius yelled. "Dumbledore's trust in you is the only thing that has kept me from killing you so far, but if you don't start TALKING RIGHT NOW - AND TELL ME EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED, I WILL KILL YOU RIGHT HERE IN FRONT OF EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!" Sirius stopped yelling to let Snape talk. 

Snape looked him in the eye and began to tell him what had happened. 

"Devin did kidnap her. I didn't find out until after Voldemort had killed Lily and James. You weren't the only one looking for her! After Voldemort lost power, Devin came to me in fear that everyone would find out that he was a Death Eater, and he would be sent to Azkaban. He told me about Lily. Crabbe and Goyle suspected that if he was caught, he would talk, and possibly tell the Ministry everything, so they killed him. When I found out, I went to his house before the Ministry and found Lily. Knowing you were in Azkaban, I took her and brought her here to your mother. When your mother died, I raised her in France. I didn't want her to have to grow up here; with everyone knowing her father and that he was in Azkaban. Even you can understand that," he spat at Sirius. 

"Well than I must thank you, mustn't I?" Sirius told Snape, his voice suddenly softening as if he was coming to his senses. "Everything you've done for me, but you still haven't answered one of my questions, WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME ABOUT HER?" Sirius yelled, making everyone in the room jump at his sudden change in tone.

"She found out that you were alive, but I didn't want you to hurt her, so I kept her away from you and didn't tell you about her."

"HURT HER? Why the hell would I hurt my own daughter? No, that's not the real reason and we both know it!" He paused and took a deep breath, his body raging in anger. "I'll tell you why you didn't tell me about her, because you loved Hannah. You loved Hannah when we went to Hogwarts, but she didn't love you, she LOVED ME!! She was still nice to you, she was the only one who was, but we never did see the day when Hannah was ever mean to anyone. She stood up for Voldemort for crying out loud, _'But Sirius it's not his fault. His mother died when he was born, if his father wouldn't have sent him to that muggle orphanage, he would have had a proper upbringing and would have been fine.' _Hannah was the most wonderful person in the world. She was nice to everyone. She didn't love you, but you could never accept that. When you found Lily, you wanted her for yourself. You wanted to raise her as if she was your daughter."

"That's not true!" Snape shot at Sirius.

"IT IS TRUE!!! It _is_. If it wasn't why didn't you tell anyone that you found her?" Sirius questioned him.

"Because I brought her straight here. Your mother wanted to raise her, but she had disowned you as her son and didn't want anyone to know that you had a daughter. When she died, there was too much that had gone untold, it was to late to tell everyone, and I didn't want her to have to go through that. But you're right I did love Hannah, which is why I wanted to protect her daughter."

"What about Hannah?" Sirius asked.

"I still haven't found her," Snape told him. At this Sirius fell to his knees and put his face in his hands. 

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect Hannah, but that's why I was so insistent to protect Lily," Snape told Sirius who looked up at him.

"They're not for you to protect, Hannah was _never_ yours to protect. I surrendered my life to protect her. It was my job to protect her!! I'm the one who failed. You have nothing to do with any of it," Sirius said breathlessly, overcome with grief. "I'm the one who let her down. I'm the one who let Devin take her. If she's dead, it's my fault. I promised her that I would protect her, forever, and I - I failed her," Sirius put his face back in his hands and started to weep uncontrollably. 

Snape walked passed him to leave. Just as he got to the door, he stopped, and without turning around, he said, "Tell Lily that I'll be back later to see her. I trust she'll want to stay here with you, and that's all right with me, but please let me visit her, I did raise her for the last TEN YEARS. And she needs to work out her schooling. Beauxbatons starts earlier than Hogwarts, and you'll need to contact them soon should you want to transfer her. I'll bring her things here when I come to see her," and at that he continued to walk out the door and leave the house. 

Sirius was still weeping as Remus came and knelt down with him, putting his arm around his friend. He cried with him. "I have to find her, Remus. I have to know if she alive," Sirius cried. 

Harry didn't know what to do. Should he go over to his godfather and kneel down next to him like Lupin? Is this a thing of the past that he should stay out of? He just stood there vulnerably staring at his godfather. Almost everyone in the room was in tears; the ones who weren't were Fred, George, and Ron. Everyone felt just as vulnerable as Harry was feeling. 

Tonks was crying just as bad as Sirius was, with Hermione and Ginny in her arms crying and trying to console her. 

Bill and Charley were sitting next to each other tearfully; concentrating on a spot on the table so hard Harry thought they were trying to burn a hole through it. 

Mr. Weasley was holding Mrs. Weasley, both were crying. 

Even Dumbledore had tears in his eyes as he motioned to Mrs. Weasley. She understood what he wanted without him having to say a word. She got up and went over to Sirius and Remus who hadn't stopped crying. 

"Remus, Sirius can go and sleep in the boy's room. Why don't you bring him up there so that he can rest?" 

Remus nodded and started to get up. 

"Arthur?" Mrs. Weasley called. Mr. Weasley jumped up and walked over to them to help Remus get Sirius upstairs. 

"I know it's difficult, but do try to finish your breakfast children. Come on Harry," Mrs. Weasley motioned for Harry to sit. Harry shook his head and started to turn around. 

"Harry dear, you need to eat! Sirius is going to need you soon. The full moon is in a few days. Remus is going to have to leave, and Sirius is going to need you to be there for him." 

Harry nodded and took his seat next to Ron. 

"You missed your birthday party mate; I guess getting Sirius back was better though," said Ron in attempt to lighten the mood. Harry looked at him questioningly. 

"What birthday party?"

"Your birthday party," answered George. 

"Who's did you think?" said Fred with a grin on his face. 

"We were going to throw you a surprise birthday party. That's why Lupin went and got you early," Hermione informed him while wiping the tears from her eyes. 

"I had no idea," Harry told her.

"That's why it was a surprise party," Ron said sarcastically. "It was Lupin's idea."

"Well, we can still have the party once everything settles down a bit," Mrs. Weasley told them as she sat down next to Ginny. "It might just be the thing we need to cheer everyone up."

"Only this time it won't be a surprise," Ginny added. 

They all finished their breakfast as Lupin came in.

"I trust they spoiled the surprise did they?" he asked Harry, who nodded. "Well I talked to Lily, and we think that she can get Sirius ready for a party tonight,"

"Lupin really, that's all right. I don't need a birthday party. I've never had one, and I've been just fine," Harry said trying to dismiss the idea. 

"So Hermione and Ron tell me. Well Harry, I think that your father would be ashamed of me, if I, being one of his best friends, didn't make sure that you, his son, had a sixteenth birthday party," Lupin replied stubbornly.

"Well I think that's just what we need at a time like this. I'll start getting everything ready," Mrs. Weasley said as she hurried into the other room. 

~ ~ ~

Lily lightly knocked on the door. "Come in," she heard Sirius say. She walked in, closed the door, and went up to his bed where he was lying, deep in thought. 

"I thought that I could - maybe - talk to you? If that is all right. If it's not, than I can leave - " Sirius put up his hand to stop her. 

"It's quite all right," he gestured her to sit down. 

She sat down on the bed next to him, looked up at him, and her eyes filled with tears. 

"Come here," Sirius said softly opening his arms to her. 

She hugged him and pulled away and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I was wondering if I could um - well, live here with you?" 

A smile came across Sirius' face.

"Of course you can live here with me. I wouldn't have it any other way. We have a lot to catch up on," he told her. 

"There is one thing though," she said wearily.

"What?" Sirius asked.

"Uncle Severus, I mean, I've always gotten the impression that the two of you didn't get along, but he raised me, and I love him dearly. I talked with Mr. Lupin, and he told me everything. What Uncle Severus did was wrong, but I can't be mad at him for it." 

"You really are your mother's daughter," Sirius laughed. "She couldn't be mad at anyone either, though she did do pretty well with me when the time called for it. I was the only one who could get her all worked up. I only did it for fun, and if I recall correctly, she only got worked up for fun. She enjoyed yelling at me, maybe a little too much. You look a lot like her. You really do."

"So everyone keeps telling me," she said.

"You also look like me you know," he said proudly. "You have my hair."

Lily took her hand and swept it through his greasy, dirty, matted hair. "I hope not," she told him, and they both laughed. "I have another question."

"What is it?" he asked.

"Is it all right if I call you father?" Tears weld up in Sirius' eyes as she asked this; his face gleamed with joy.

"Yes, you can call me father, and whatever else you like," he told her. 

She smiled at him. "Now," Sirius said urgently. "Severus and I will have to put our differences aside. This is the Order of the Phoenix headquarters, so I'm sure you'll see him often, but what we must talk about now is your schooling,"

"I've already thought about that," she informed him.

"Really, have you?" he asked afraid that he already knew what was coming.

"Yes, I've already taken my O. W. L.'s, so there's no need for me to go back," she told him. 

Sirius raised his eyebrows and laughed. 

"You have two more years of school left you have to finish!" he told her. 

She frowned stubbornly as Lupin walked into the room.

"I don't need anymore schooling, my O. W. L.'s are enough," she told him.

"Well Sirius, I would have to say that she not only has your hair, but your strong will," Lupin said to Sirius, and they all laughed. Lupin took a seat in the chair next to the bed. Lily turned back to Sirius. 

"Father, I've just met you, I don't want to leave you now," she said wearily.

"We will get to know each other in time, but you also have to go to school. You're mother would kill me if I didn't do what was best for you," he told her as she sighed and looked down at the ground. "I only want the best for you; you can understand that. Can't you? Just because you go to school doesn't mean your any less my daughter."

"All right," she looked up at him and smiled.

"I understand you went to Beauxbatons?" She nodded. "Now, do you want to continue to go there or transfer to Hogwarts?" Sirius asked her.

"I would like to go to Hogwarts. It would be nice to not feel like I'm being hidden anymore, and to go to the school you and mother went to," she told him excitedly. Then she looked back down at the floor, "But my O. W. L.'s really are enough." 

He looked at her and smiled. 

"You're worried about the money aren't you?" he asked her.

"Well, Uncle Severus always paid for my school things, and since I'd be living here with you than, it wouldn't be right asking him," she told him still looking down at the floor. 

"Remus, has anything change since I've been gone? Do I still own the manor and all of my other assets?" he asked Lupin.

"No one knew where you were, let alone if you were alive or not, so, yes to answer your question," Lupin said with a smile.

"Well than, Lily you have nothing to worry about. My family-" he paused and cleared his throat, "Excuse me, our family, was quite wealthy and powerful at one time. Though the power is gone, the wealth is not. If everything's the same as when I left, then I should have plenty of money to send you to school with the finest things," he told her. 

"Well, I don't need the finest things, but I will go to school," she said beaming up at him.

"Well now than that's settled. Did you tell him, Lily?" Lupin asked her.

"No, I haven't gotten to it yet. Do you want to tell him?" she asked Lupin.

"Are you sure you don't want to tell him?" he asked.

"I'm sure," she answered.

"One of you better tell me what's going on," Sirius said slightly annoyed.

"All right I'll tell you," Lupin said turning to him. "We were picking Harry up to bring him here for his sixteenth birthday party when Lily got there and took him with her. We were thinking that if you were up to it, we could celebrate tonight. You'd have to get cleaned up of course," Lupin said looking at how filthy Sirius was because he had still not bathed, shaved, or cut his hair since he'd been back.

"I think you're right," Sirius said as they all started to laugh. "I'll need a present for Harry as well."

"I'm sure he'll understand if you don't get him anything," Lupin told him.

"Yes, but even though it's the spur of the moment, I think I have just the thing," he said getting lost deep in thought.

"Well, we'll leave you to it then. I'll see you at the party father," Lily smiled at him, and he smiled back at her. 

She got up, gave him a hug, and her and Lupin walked out of the room. 


	5. Happy Birthday

**Chapter 5: Happy Birthday**

At five thirty Mrs. Weasley forbid Harry to go downstairs, so he and Ron sat in their room playing Wizard's Chess. Lily insisted that Sirius go back in his room, and she stayed in with Hermione and Ginny. Almost everyone was downstairs helping Mrs. Weasley get things ready. 

Harry was getting very anxious. He'd never had a birthday party before. He'd never spent his birthday with people who cared about him either. 

Dobby had stayed. His job (along with helping Mrs. Weasley with decorations) was to make sure Harry didn't sneak out of his room to see anything. Dumbledore had stayed and had had a very long conversation with Sirius in his room before he went downstairs to get the door. Harry heard him opening the door for Professor McGonagall to come in. 

While they sat in their room playing chess and listening to the commotion downstairs, Ron informed him about the latest news. Dumbledore had found a way to take the painting of Mrs. Black down, and Kreacher was band from the house for life. 

The two boys hadn't seen each other since the last school term ended, so they enjoyed their time together and stayed off of any subject that had to do with Voldemort. 

They weren't allowed to go down stairs until six thirty, but both boys had lost track of time wilts being completely engrossed in their game. After Ron was triumphant, there was a knock on the door, and in came Lupin. 

"All right Harry, you can come down now," he smiled brightly at him. 

Harry and Ron jumped up and led the way down stairs. "Everything's in the living room," Lupin informed them. 

As he went into the living room, Harry could see bright colorful decorations. Streamers hung from the ceiling, there was a table in the corner covered with chocolate and candy, and there were at least five golden snitches flying around the room. 

The girls had gone upstairs to get ready, and Mr. Weasley was sitting on the couch grinning up at Harry. 

"So Harry how does it feel to be sixteen?" Mr. Weasley asked him.

"Okay I guess. I haven't really noticed a change," Harry shrugged.

"Well it will be more of a change next year when you can you Apparate. Just the same, why don't you sit down?" Mr. Weasley gestured to a chair, and Harry sat down. "It's nice see you again Harry," Mr. Weasley said brightly. 

"Dad, I'll be right back. I have to go and get something," Ron told his father, and he left the room with Lupin following. The doorbell rang, and Harry heard Fred and George talking to Professor McGonagall as the three came in the room. 

"Happy Birthday Harry," Fred and George said cheerfully together putting their gifts for him on the empty spot on the table and sat down. 

"Yes, Happy Birthday Harry," Professor McGonagall told him while smiling brightly. 

Dumbledore and Lupin walked in the room, put their gifts on the table, and told him "Happy Birthday" as

well.

"Harry, I have to say that your father started a tradition in your family on his sixteenth birthday," Dumbledore informed him. 

"What do you mean Sir?" Harry asked

"I mean that your father celebrated his sixteenth birthday at Hogwarts, and like yours it was most eventful.

And ironically enough the events of both your birthday's were caused by the same person," Harry stopped smiling.

"You mean Voldemort?" Harry asked wearily. 

"No, I mean Sirius Black," Dumbledore got a big grin on his face as Lupin started to laugh at the memory. 

"If I am not mistaken, the two of them received two months worth of detentions after that evening," Professor McGonagall added. "Sirius and James were bad enough separately, let alone when they put their heads together." 

"Well that's not how I remember it," Sirius said as he came into the room and sat next to Harry. "The one who didn't get into any trouble happened to be the mastermind of the whole evening. If I'm not mistaken, Lupin planned most of the evening. James didn't have a clue what was going on, and all I did was get my Hannah to convince Lily into coming to his birthday party. And it was of course in the Gryffindor Tower, so I also had to sneak Hannah in, but that was more for me than for James, and come to think of it, it wasn't the first time I'd done it, either." Sirius got an evil grin on his face. 

"A Hufflepuff was in Gryffindor tower? If I would have know that, then you would have had two more months of detention, Sirius," Professor McGonagall said astounded.

"Well then, that must have been why I didn't tell you," Sirius smirked.

"I have you know that I did not have a hand with the veela, Master Black," Lupin said knowingly. 

"Well then it must have been from the Rat because I was in The Room of Requirement all night the night before James' birthday when you convinced them to come with you. And my Hannah could vouch for that if she were here," Sirius argued.

"What were you doing in The Room of Requirement all night with a girl?" George asked slyly. Everyone stopped arguing and looked at Sirius questionably with grins on their faces. 

"We were just - well - " Sirius stumbled over the words while trying to figure out how he was going to get his foot out of his mouth this time. Just then Ginny and Lily walked in. "Lily!" Sirius said jumping to his feet to greet her with a hug. 

Fred and George stopped talking, their faces went straight, and their eyes practically popped out of their heads when they saw Lily. Harry stared at her too. His insides squirmed, and he felt like the whole world had stopped. Her robes were royal blue and lined with silver. Her flowing black hair fell down to the middle of her back. Harry thought that her robes brought out her deep blue eyes. 

"You clean up well father," she told Sirius in admiration. 

"I hope you're not to ashamed to look somewhat like me now," Sirius said and then proudly introduced her to Dumbledore and McGonagall. 

Fred sat down next to Harry where Sirius had been sitting. 

"Harry who's that?" Fred asked him not taking his eyes off of Lily. Harry, who had also been staring at her, looked at him and grinned. 

"That's Lily," Harry whispered back.

"That's the girl Ron told us about? Sirius' daughter?" Fred asked him astounded.

"Yeah, that's her," Harry told him as he looked back at Lily and smiled. 

Tonks came in teary eyed and hugged Lily.

"Boys, you might want to pick your jaws up off the ground before she looks over here," Lupin told them grinning. Harry looked at him as his face went red.

"I guess we know what he was doing in The Room of Requirement now," Fred slugged George, and they both laughed.

Lily turned, her eyes locked with Harry's, and she started to walk toward him.

"Happy birthday Harry," she smiled at him. "Sorry I didn't get you a birthday present."

"Yes you did. You found Sirius. I don't think that anyone will be able to top that one," he told her while trying to catch his breath.

"Well that wasn't just for you, now was it?" she asked while twirling her hair that was laying off of her shoulder and nervously biting her lower lip.

"Well, it still meant a lot. But if you still feel bad about not getting me a gift, there is something that you can do," he said coyly.

"What?" she asked.

"You could sit next to me for the evening," he said hesitantly looking at the empty spot next to him, looking back at her. He quickly added, "I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to." 

He didn't know what had gotten into him, and he started to feel embarrassed until she came over and sat next to him. Everyone was staring at them at that point, but they didn't seem to notice or care until Ron and Hermione came in hand in hand. Harry looked at them confused and then grinned. 

"You mean you two finally stopped arguing long enough to realize your undying love for each other?" he teased as Ron and Hermione looked at each other and blushed. "It's about time."

"Oh shut up or Hermione will turn you into a pin cushion," Ron teased back.

"Well at least I can say I approve of you girlfriend, Ron."

"It looks like you're not doing too bad there yourself," Ron said as Harry's face went fire red, and he fought the urge to look at Lily. 

After everyone sat down, Harry started to open his gifts. Dobby of course, gave Harry socks, but this time they were blue with gold lightening bolts on the side. Terrified of what would happen to him if he tried Fred and George's present in front of Lily. He promised them he would try it later and put it aside. 

Every gift seemed as if it was carefully thought out by people that knew him well and loved him very much. He decided that this had been the best birthday ever as he put his last gift aside and thanked everyone. 

"Wait a minute, Harry. You haven't opened all of your gifts yet," Sirius said as he stood up and handed Harry a small, neatly wrapped box. He unwrapped it and looked up at Sirius.

"What's this?" he asked.

"Open it and find out," Sirius told him. Harry did as he was told and opened it. Out flew a small golden snitch. 

For any normal person it would have been impossible to catch at this point, but Harry had been Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team for five years now, and his reflexes were amazingly fast, so he just simply grabbed it with no hesitation or problem and inwardly hope that Lily had been impressed. Her wide eyes and bright smile assured him that she had been.

"If you remember, that's probably the same snitch your father was playing around with when you saw him in the Pensieve last year, he had nicked it one day after Quidditch practice. 

"Your mother hated him playing with it and thought that it only showed how conceded he really was, so on her sixteenth birthday he gave it to her and told her that she meant more to him than Quidditch. She took it and told him that she didn't care and that he was just using it as a way to get her to go out with him. 

"Years later after they got married, they had just moved in together and were unpacking when James found it amongst Lily's things. It really had meant a lot to her and was the reason why she started to be nicer to him. Consequently it caused her to get to know him and fall in love with him.

"When you were born James put a hovering charm on it so that it would hover over your crib and you could play with it. After Voldemort killed them and I found you, you had tears in your eyes and refused to let it go. When you fell asleep, I took it from you, and I've had it ever since. I thought you might want it back," Sirius told him the story as Harry stared at the snitch completely entranced by it. 

"Well, time for cake. Bill, will you help me bring it out please?" Mrs. Weasley said as she stood up and made her way to the kitchen with Bill following behind her.

~ ~ ~

The next day Ron woke Harry up, and they both got dressed and went down stairs for breakfast. Fred and George had Apparated to their new house (located above their joke shop) last night, so it was just the two boys in the room. 

When they got to the kitchen, they saw Sirius sitting next to Lily, and Snape sitting across from the both of them. Harry noticed that Sirius and Snape were both trying very hard to carry on a civil conversation for Lily's sake. 

They sat down at the table next to Sirius, and Dobby came in with their food. Without saying a word, Dobby set their food on the table and ran out of the kitchen obviously afraid of the tension that was building in the room. 

"You're not angry with me are you Uncle Severus?" Lily asked Snape.

"No of course not. I expected as much when I found out that you were here. I do wish you would have told me where you went though. Going up against the Dark Lord was not the brightest idea you've had. If you had told me than I would have - "

"You would have what? This is something I had to do. He's _my _father!" Lily told him pleadingly.

"You could have been killed!" Snape said sternly.

"But I wasn't. And besides its your own fault," Lily told him sitting back and slouching in her chair.

"Oh, no you don't. You can't blame me for your actions," Snape said defensively. 

"Oh, yes I can. It's how you've raised me, to always fight for what's right no matter what happens. You yourself are a spy for Dumbledore. You go up against the Dark Lord all the time, and I'm supposed to look at that and do nothing when the time finally calls for it? I don't think so. Perhaps if you had raised me to be lazy and self-serving then I would act like it, but you didn't so its your fault," Lily informed him. 

"You're more like your Sirius than you'll ever know and SIT UP IN THAT CHAIR!" Snape commanded her. "Improper etiquette is defiantly one thing that _I did not _teach you!" 

Lily obeyed and looked up at him with loving eyes, and Snape softened. "Now, are you going to transfer schools?" Snape inquired after a few seconds of silence.

"Yes, I would like to," she replied.

"That's fine, just don't let this little family reunion get in the way of your grades. You have to stay sharp in order to be ready for your N.E.W.T.s next year." 

"Yes sir," she replied.

Sirius rolled his eyes as he started to get annoyed with Snape and inwardly hoping that Lily didn't have to put up with this her entire life. Though, Lily seemed to be very used to it. She listened intently and seemed to know exactly how to handle the situation as she didn't say anything but "Yes sir" when he got done with his sentence. 

"Uncle Severus?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yes?" 

"I was thinking and well, Voldemort knows that a young girl saved Father and then all of a sudden I show up at Hogwarts. And not only am I a young girl, but I'm his ex-prisoners daughter. He'll put two and two together. I can't tell everyone that you raised me, with you being a spy for Dumbledore. So, what do I tell them?" she finished looking up at him questionably.

"When you went to Beauxbatons, you _history _was between Madam Maxime and myself only and even she didn't know everything. Your records show that you were raised in an orphanage in France after your grandmother died when you were five. You can stay to that story," he informed her.

"Okay, I will," she replied.

"If you make friends with Potter, which under the circumstances I'm sure you will, don't go around acting like you own the place and braking school rules. You are not only representing your Sirius, but your also representing Beauxbatons," Snape said sternly.

"Yes sir."

"If you'll excuse us for a moment I would like to discuss something with Sirius privately."

"Of course, Father?" Lily questioned while glancing over at Sirius.

Snape's eyes widened and quickly looked down at the ground raging with anger from hearing Lily refer to Sirius as _Father_.

"Join me in the next room Severus?" Sirius asked politely though it seemed to Harry that it had been a struggle. They both stood up, glaring daggers at each other, and left the room. 

"What was it like having him raise you? It must have been awful!" Ron said horrified. 

"Well, he was very strict, but only because he was trying to do what was best for me," Lily told him nonchalantly.

"I dread having potions with him, I couldn't imagine having to live with him!" Ron said as chills went up his spine. 

"Oh no I forgot about that!" Lily gasped.

"Forgot about what?" Harry asked since Ron was obviously still getting over the thought of living with Snape. 

"That he would be my Potions teacher!" she cried.

"Why's that a problem? He would let you off easy," Ron told her when he finally came out of his semi-coma.

"No he wouldn't. It's actually going to be the exact opposite from that. Uncle Severus is very strict when it comes to my schooling. I'll be lucky to make it through the year alive!" Lily said worriedly. 

"Join the club," Harry said as Hermione and Ginny came in and sat down opposite of them. Ron got up and moved his plate on the other side of the table so that he could sit next to Hermione.

~ ~ ~ 

"I'm willing to put our differences aside while we're with Lily, Snape, but it doesn't mean that you're my new best friend! What is this important matter you wish to discuses?" Sirius asked Snape trying to keep his voice down so that Lily wouldn't hear them from the kitchen.

"Nothing has change between us, so you don't have to worry, we won't become _friends _anytime soon. That I can assure you!" Snape spat at Sirius with the hatred in his eyes growing every second. "As for the important matter, it's about money. I trust since she'll be living with you, you can manage to take care of her finical needs?" Snape said patronizingly. 

"Of course I can. She'll have the best that money can buy," Sirius said matter-of-factly.

"Good, she deserves no less. But I must ask you to try to keep _Potter_ away from her," Snape spat.

"I would think that she's old enough to make up her own mind in that area," Sirius told him after rolling his eyes.

"As much as you would want you're daughter and James' son to be together, you have to remember to think of what's best for Lily!" Snape demanded.

Sirius raised an eyebrow and let out a small annoyed chuckle before saying, "What's best for Lily is her happiness." 

"Oh come off it man! If Lily were to fall in love with _Potter,_ than the Dark Lord would just see her as another tool in which to capture him! And what if he dies before this is all over? Would you really let your pride cause her heartache?" Snape questioned.

"Heartache is the consequence of living life. You can't just sit in a corner and let life pass you by. Whether she wants to be with Harry or not, it's _her_ choice! And I will protect her!" Sirius said commandingly.

"Like you protected Hannah?" Snape suddenly blurted out.

At this Sirius slammed Snape into the wall putting his arm to Snape's throat and pushing it into the wall causing Snape to gasp for air.

"What on earth is going on here?" Professor McGonagall asked as she entered the room with Dumbledore. 

Sirius released the pressure slightly.

"Say goodbye to her, visit her occasionally, but stay the hell away from me! And don't worry I'll take good care of MY DAUGHTER!" Sirius released him completely. 

Snape adjusted his robes while glaring fiercely at Sirius, and went to the kitchen. Sirius, Professor McGonagall, and Dumbledore followed him.

"Lily, I must be going now. I'll see you at Hogwarts," Snape told her casually as if nothing at all had happened. "I'm sure that Quincy will be ready with your things soon. You should be expecting her in a few days time,"

Lily stood up and hugged him. Snape looked tearful and caring as he hugged her, two emotions Harry had never seen him show.

"I love you Uncle Severus," she whispered gentle in his ear.

"I love you too Lily," he whispered back. He pulled away, looked her in the eye, nodded, and turned to his heel and walked toward the door. When he got to the door he turned around and looked at Lily. "By the way last year was the last year for many of Hogwarts' Quidditch players, chasers in particular. Two from Hufflepuff, one from Ravenclaw, and all three from Gryffindor. If you feel that it won't interfere with your schoolwork than be sure to keep and eye out for tryouts. Seeing how talented you were on the Quidditch field at Beauxbatons, I for one would like to see how well you do at Hogwarts," He grinned at her.

"I will," she informed him. "What about Slytherin?"

"My dear, there is no chance that you'll be sorted into Slytherin! You're far too sweet. You'll probably be sorted into Gryffindor like Sirius or Hufflepuff like your mother," with another nod, he turned to his heel and disappeared from site. 

Lily walked of to Sirius and hugged him.

"Thank you, Father. I know that that wasn't easy for you, but thank you for doing it for me. I love you," she told him after she pulled away.

"I love you too, Lily," he told her with tears in his eyes. "Come on you need to take your potion before you go to Diagon Alley," 

"I'm going to Diagon Alley?" she questioned him.

"Yes, after everyone gets done with there breakfast Molly is taking you all in to get your school supplies," Lily's eyes brightened up with excitement.

"Really? I've never been to Diagon Alley before. Oh, father," She hugged him again and quickly pulled away beaming. 


	6. Diagon Alley

**Chapter 6: Diagon Alley**

"Aright now, is everyone ready?" Mrs. Weasley asked them as they were all standing at the door ready to leave.

Everyone nodded. Just as they were about to leave, the front door opened, and Lupin stepped in.

"Hello everyone," he said cheerily. "I got what you wanted Sirius," he said turning to Sirius and handed him a small bag.

"Thank you Remus," he told him happily and turned to Harry and Lily. "Now Harry, I am trusting you to make sure that she spends every dime."

And at the Sirius handed the small, elegant looking bag to Lily.

"What's this father? The books here can't be that expensive!" she looked up at him, shocked that the small bag was full of gold Galleons.

"Well, you also have to get your school robes, and what if you want to go to Florean's? You have to have money for that, you can buy a round of Sundays for everyone," Sirius said matter-of-factly and Lily frowned.

"Father, I don't need this much!" she insisted.

"Lily, that money has done nothing but sit in my vault for fifteen years! The only thing I've bought with it is Harry's Firebolt."

"But Father -"

"Lily, listen to me," he pleaded as he started to explain. "When your mother told me that she was pregnant, I got another Gringotts vault and I put more than half of my savings into it knowing that when you were born I could spend all of it spoiling you rotten. Now, I only have two years left before you graduate from Hogwarts, and I can finally make up for the time that was stolen from us. Will you please let me treat you like the princess that I deserve to treat you like?" Lily smiled up at him. "Come on, let your fool of a father spoil you."

"All right, if it's really that important to you I guess I could manage to spend it." Inwardly Lily was overjoyed thinking that she could defiantly get used to this.

"Harry? I'm putting her in your care. I trust you won't let me down?" Sirius asked Harry in a very businesslike tone.

"Yes, of course." Harry nodded in the same tone, grinning.

"Hey, I'm the one that saved you from under the Dark Lord's very nose! Or have you forgotten?" Lily protested to being treated like a business transaction.

"Of course I remember. I was merely telling Harry that he would be the one that would need to show you around Diagon Alley. Since he's been there before, right Harry?" Sirius asked turning to Harry for backup.

"Yes, of course. I knew exactly what you meant Sirius. And I'd be happy to show Lily around, since I've been there loads of times." Harry looked up at Sirius and together they both looked at Lily with devilish grins on the faces.

"All right, all right. Mrs. Weasley we should go. I think these two are having way to much fun teasing me," she told Mrs. Weasley while smiling back at Sirius and Harry. Mrs. Weasley laughed.

"Yes, I think your quite right, Lily. Let's be going, come along now children," she said while pushing Ron, Hermione, and Ginny out the door.

"Have fun, Lily," Sirius said as he hugged her one last time.

"I will, Father." She pulled away and smiled up at him.

"You too, Harry," he told him. "And we'll have that talk when you get back." Harry nodded.

"Well the sooner we leave, the sooner we can get back," Mrs. Weasley said as she put her arm around Lily and ushered her out the door along with Harry.

The last few years, getting his Hogwarts letter had been a big deal, but this year Mrs. Weasley didn't even give him his letter. When they got on The Knight Bus, Ginny showed Harry her prefect badge. She also told him that Mrs. Weasley had said that it wouldn't be an appropriate time to celebrate because of everything that was going on. She was, however, going to get a Cleansweep like Ron's from Quality Quidditch when they got to Diagon Alley.

Harry had been very surprised to hear that he had gotten an Outstanding in Potions and that Snape had actually accepted him in his N. E. W. T. class.

He and Ron had managed to receive eight O.W.L.'s. To no one's surprise Hermione had received twelve O.W.L.'s, the highest in their year, and the highest you could possibly get.

An owl had arrived from Beauxbatons for Lily shortly after she arrived telling her that she had received eleven O.W.L.'s.

Professor McGonagall sat down with her after Harry's birthday party and talked to her about which classes she wanted to take to study for her pre-N.E.W.T. level classes this year. Professor McGonagall seemed to think that she wouldn't have any trouble getting into the classes (because of her excellent grades), and she made her a book list. She also owled Lily's professors to make them aware that she would be joining their classes this year.

The Knight Bus came to an abrupt halt in front of The Leaky Cauldron, and they all filed out accompanied by Mad-Eye Moody and Lupin.

Everyone walked into The Leaky Cauldron. Lily was at Harry's side as Mrs. Weasley led the way to the back.

Everyone in room went quiet as they saw Lily enter. She was becoming very aware that everyone was looking at her when the bartender dropped the drink the was serving to the Minister of Magic and it shattered on the floor.

She walked a little closer to Harry as they slowly followed Mrs. Weasley, leaned into him and nervously whispered.

"H-H-arry, there staring at you right? Your - your scar?"

"I spent two weeks of my summer holiday just before my third year here. They all know me. Well at least they've all seen me before," Harry told her also curious to know why everyone was staring at her.

"Oh, well that's comforting," she retorted.

"Well, your dad says you look a lot like your mum, maybe they think you're her, like he did?" he suggested.

"I don't know, but it's freaking me out. Could we walk a little faster?" she asked him.

"Sure," he replied as they quickened their pace.

"Harry!" They heard someone shout.

When they turned around, they saw that it was the Minister of Magic. Harry rolled his eyes and walked over to the table where he was sitting. Everyone followed suit, and Lily stayed close to him.

"Did you need something, Minister?" he asked coolly.

"Now Harry, your not still sore about what happened a few years ago, are you?" Fudge asked him as if it was nothing.

"You mean when you calling me a liar and made everyone think that I was insane? Why would I be sore about that?" he said casually, but you could defiantly hear the sarcasm in his voice.

"Good, well now that that's settled," he said ignoring Harry's comment completely. "Can you introduce us to your little friend here?" He nodded at Lily.

"Harry is a friend of mine, but I have my own voice. If you're being rude enough to not even worry to put your eyes back in their sockets, then why don't we skip any formalities all together? My name is Lily Black," she said calmly, sounding completely annoyed.

Fudge just sat there, a bit taken back by her confidence.

"Black you say?" Fudge said nervously when he finally found his voice again.

"Yes, Black," she said firmly. "Why is there something wrong Minister?"

"No, no, my dear. I just didn't think that there was anyone left in the Black line. Are you a foreigner?" he asked hesitantly.

"No, I believe you knew my parents."

"Did I really now?" he questioned.

You could see that he was racking his brain, trying to come up with who she was because the obvious was impossible.

"Yes, my mother was Hannah Patil and my father _is_ Sirius Black," she said calmly.

"S - S - Sirius B - Black? What are you talking about? This is madness. You can't be Sirius Back's daughter. He was sent to Azkaban before you were born," he stated as if he was trying to convince himself of it.

"No, actually I was nine months old, and I never met him." You could tell that she enjoyed him faltering under her words.

"W - Well um, where have you been all this years, my dear? And where is your mother?" he asked her.

"Children, we really must be going on to Diagon Alley. You understand Cornelius?" Mrs. Weasley asked him, trying to get Harry and Lily, who were obviously getting angrier by the minute, away from the Minister of Magic before they did something that they would regret.

"Yes, yes, of course, Molly. It was nice seeing you again Harry and Lily it was very nice meeting you," he said as he stood up and stretched out his hand.

She narrowed her eyes on him.

"It's Miss. Black to you. And I wish that I could say the same to the man who so conveniently left my father in Azkaban for twelve years and never once gave him a trial." Lily turned and followed Mrs. Weasley to a small, walled courtyard.

When they entered Diagon Alley, Mrs. Weasley turned to Lily and Harry.

"Now Harry dear, you know to take extra precautions. You all can go and show Lily around and meet me back here at one o'clock, and we'll go and have some lunch, alright?" Harry nodded. "Remus is going to the Magical Menagerie, but Moody will be watching you all from a distance so that he doesn't attract any attention. Alright then, have fun and be careful," she said before leaving them.

"So where do you want to go first?" Ron asked Harry.

"We should probably go to Madam Malkin's so that Lily can get her robes." Harry looked over to Lily for conformation, but she wasn't there. "Lily, where'd you go?"

"I'm right here," she said while gazing into a window at Quality Quidditch Supplies. "I want to go in there," she said as they started to walk in the store.

After an hour in Quality Quidditch Supplies, they got refills of everything that they needed in their potion making kits from the Apothecary (all except Lilly, she hadn't needed anything) and went to meet Mrs. Weasley. When they had finished their lunch, Lily offered to buy them all ice cream, so they went to Florean's Ice-Cream Parlor. When they sat down, Florean Fortescue came out to take their orders. Harry thought that if Florean's eyes got any wider they would literally fall to the ground.

"Hannah? It can't be," he said quickly walking over to Lily.

"No sir, I'm her daughter Lily Black," Lily told him, extending her hand, which he took with both of his.

"I knew our Hannah was pregnant, but I thought she died before she delivered the baby," he said beaming down at her.

"No sir, I was found fifteen years ago after the Dark Lord's fall," she told him as he finally let got of her hand.

"Horrible thing that happened to your father. But if it's alright for me to say, you do look a lot like him as well."

"It's defiantly alright. I'm proud to be his daughter," she said matter-of-factly.

"Yes, well, what can I get for you then?" he asked.

After he took their orders, he left and Lily started a heated discussion with Ron about the last Quidditch match which Puddlemere United won.

"We just spent an hour in Quality Quidditch Supplies, and you're still talking about Quidditch? Where have you been all my life?" Harry blurted out, making the both of them blush fiercely.

"Harry, I believe you're suppose to be showing her around Diagon Alley, not flirting with her." Harry heard a familiar voice say.

When he turned around, he saw Lupin grinning down at them. "But I suppose if you can manage both, then it's okay."

"Lupin, would you like to sit down and have an Ice Cream Sunday? My treat," Lily asked him.

"Well how am I supposed to turn down an offer like that?" he said as Florean Fortescue came out with the orders, asked Lupin what he would like, and left again.

After they finished their ice cream, they left for Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Madam Malkin came out and clasped her hands over her mouth when she saw Lily.

"Child, tell me please, who is your mother?" she asked as tears started to trickle down her face.

"Hannah Patil." At this, Madam Malkin ran over to her and pulled her in to a hug.

"Remus, is it true?" she asked Lupin when she pulled away.

"Yes Daphne, it's true," he replied.

"Bless your heart dear, I knew your mother since before she could walk. Why is it that I haven't seen you before now?" she asked Lily.

"I've lived in France since I was five, and I went to Beauxbatons when I started school, but now I'm transferring to Hogwarts," Lily informed her.

"And your here for your school robes?"

"Yes ma'am," Lily replied.

"Come on then dear. We can catch up a bit while I'm fitting you for your robes," she said ushering her to the back of the shop.

When they came out awhile later, Lily had tears in her eyes, and Madam Malkin had tears streaming down her face again.

"So you promise to keep in touch dear?" Madam Malkin asked her, holding Lily's hands in her own.

"Yes of course I will. Thank you for telling me all those stories. It really means a lot to me," Lily said as she hugged her one last time before they left.

Lupin went to Lily's side and put his arm around her comfortingly as they walked to Flourish and Blotts to get their school books.

"Here, drink this before we go any further," Lupin said taking a flask from his robes and handing it to her.

"It's your potion. Your father thought you might need more of it after meeting a few people."

They walked into Flourish and Blotts, and Mrs. Weasley came up to them.

"I thought you might be about to get your books. I'm done with my shopping. You don't mind if I join y - Lily dear, what happened? Are you alright?" Mrs. Weasley asked her worriedly as she finished the last bit.

"Yes Mrs. Weasley. I'm fine. I just met Madam Malkin," Lily told her, as she wiped the tears out of her eyes and handed Lupin his flask.

"Oh, I see. She was your grandmother's best friend. I expect she enjoyed meeting you."

"Yes, and I enjoyed meeting her as well. She told me some great things about my mother."

"She's a very fine women, and I'm sure she will be able to tell you a lot more about your mother. Be sure to keep in touch," Mrs. Weasley hugged her. "Now, we need to get all of your books."

The manager came out and helped them find all of their school books, but Hermione, Lily, and Ginny wanted to look at some other books. So, they wondered around the store to see if they could find anything interesting.

"Lily, can I ask you a question?" Hermione stopped her search to ask.

"Sure, ask me anything you like," she replied.

"Well, you said your mother's last name was Patil."

"And it is."

"Yes, but I was just wondering if you knew if you were related to Parvati and Padma Patil?" Hermione questioned.

"I don't know. Those names don't sound familiar. As much as I know about my family, I just might be," Lily answered. "Why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering. They're twins in our year. Padma is in Ravenclaw and Parvati is in Gryffindor. When you said the name, I just thought that you might be."

"She does look a lot like them," Ron added. He and Harry were listening in on the conversation.

"Maybe Sirius would know," Harry thought out loud.

"Yeah maybe," Hermione said.

"We should go and visit Fred and George's joke shop before we leave," Ginny interrupted them in their thoughts.

"Yeah, let's go," Ron said taking Hermione's books from her. "You know Hermione, being your boyfriend isn't easy. Maybe I should have fallen for Lavender Brown. I don't think she's ever read a book that wasn't for school. Then maybe my arms wouldn't be so sore," Ron told her as they left Flourish and Blotts.

They walked down the street a ways and came to a store with a huge sign over it that said "Weasley's Wizard Wheezes" and Fred ran out to greet them.

"Hello everyone. Welcome to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Since Harry obviously hasn't made his move yet, I'll be happy to escort you through the store Miss. Black," he said bowing slightly, and he offered his arm for her to take. She blushed slightly and accepted.

They all walked into the store.

"Lily, how good it is to see you," George said, coming over to her.

He took her hand and kissed it lightly, making Lily giggle and smile up at him.

"We're here too mate. You know, your friends and family," Rom said annoyed.

"Oh just ignore him, Lily darling, we do," Fred told her matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, after you live with the guy for fifteen years, his voice becomes a part of the background," George assured her.

Lee Jordan walked out of the backroom, and his jaw dropped when he saw Lily.

"Is this the girl you were telling me about?" he asked.

"Yes, allow me to introduce you to Lily Black, Lily this is our friend Lee Jordan," Fred introduced them.

"It's nice to meet you Lee," Lily said politely. "What's that?" she asked, looking over at a pile of what looked like small, colorful candies.

"Those are called Ton-Tongue Toffees. Harry's cousin Dudley was kind enough to test them for us a couple of years ago. Would you like to try one?" Fred asked her.

"Oh no you don't, Fred. You can just leave Lily alone," Ginny said defensively, knowing what her brothers' Ton-Tongue Toffees would do to her.

"No, that's alright, Ginny. Whatever it does, can you change it back?" Lily asked Fred who was shocked that she was agreeing to try it.

"Yes, of course I can," he assured her and handed her a piece.

She took it and ate it. Then she started to act like she was choking, opened her mouth, and out came what looked like a purple foot long tongue that was rapidly growing.

George (seeing his extremely angry mother's face) took out his wand and muttered something. Lily's tongue turned back to its normal size and color, and she smiled brightly up at the two of them.

"That was bloody brilliant!" she told them excitedly.

"You mean you're not angry with us?" he asked her, sounding _very _surprised.

"Of course not. Here try this," she said as she took what looked like a mint from a small bag in her robes and handed it to George.

He took it and put it in his mouth, and his face slowly turned red.

"Cool, what'd you give him?" Fred asked her.

"I call them Mood Mints. They change your face a different color, depending on what you're feeling at that very moment towards the person who gave it to you. Because your face turned red, that means that you're very attracted to me," Lily said and blushed slightly.

"Where did you get them?" George asked, admiring his now very deep red face in a mirror.

"I made them," she replied.

"You made them?" he asked her astounded.

"Yes, I did," she answered.

"Like father, like daughter," Lupin murmured.

"Well, then I hope that you tested them on some girls too, to make sure they worked because I don't think that there's a man in this world who's face wouldn't go red if you gave it to them," Fred told her making her blush again at all the attention she was getting from the twins.

"So what took you all so long to get here?" George asked turning to Ron, and sounding annoyed.

"Well, we were going to come when we first got here, but Lily found Quality Quidditch Supplies. We spent about an hour there. We got our potion making kits refilled at the Apothecary, and then it was time to meet Mum," Ron informed them.

"You mean you spent an entire hour in Quality Quidditch Supplies and didn't die of boredom like a lot of girls do?" Fred asked her.

"No, I like Quidditch. I was a chaser at my old school," she told him at which he stepped in front of her and he and George got down on one knee in front of her.

"Make us the happiest men in the world and marry us, please," George pleaded.

"Yeah, it's a two for one deal, and we're rich, successful businessmen. It doesn't get any better than that," Fred added, making everyone in the shop burst out laughing.

When Mrs. Weasley finally got Fred and George to stop flirting with Lily, they left the joke shop. Lily still had a lot of money left, so Lupin suggested that she get an owl from the Magical Menagerie, and they made their way over there.

After the witch behind the counter gawked at Lily, introduced herself, and hugged her three times, she finally asked why they were there.

"So you want an owl? Well we have two beautiful Snowy Owls if that's what you'd like," she said ushering Lily over to the cages.

"I like this one," Lily said pointing to the younger, smaller one of the two.

"Yes, all right then, let me just go and get you a cage," she said and hurried to the back of the shop.

"Oh, Mrs. McNeal!" A man shouted in a singsong voice the second he came in the store.

"Daren, you're here, and I see you've brought them with you," the witch said as she came out from the back with Lily's cage. "Daren, let me introduce you to Lily Black. She's our Hannah's daughter."

The man seemed to know exactly who she was talking about because he quickly put the box he was carrying down and hugged Lily.

"It's an honor to meet you," he said smiling bright down at her. "I went to school with you mother and father." The man paused and smiled as he looked at Harry. "And you with Harry Potter! Your parents would be so please that you're friends and maybe a bit more, hmm?" He winked at them. "Well, Mrs. McNeal, I'm afraid that I can't sell you these little ones yet," the man informed her.

"Why on earth not?" she asked him worriedly.

"Because I started breeding them when I was still at Hogwarts, and I believe that my first customer was Miss. Hannah Patil. It only seems right to repay the favor by giving her daughter one," he said confidently and he opened the box.

The box had five longhaired kittens in it. Two of them were black, one was pure white, another one was gray, and the last one, the smallest and frailest looking one of them all, looked like a white tiger, but with long hair.

"They're eight weeks old. Take your pick. You can have any one of them, free of charge," the man told her as she picked up the smallest one. "I thought you might choose that one. Just like you mother. She always picked the underdog or in this case the undercat. Now, she'll need a lot of extra attention. You'll need to fatten her up a bit and give her some extra vitamins, but she should be fine in the end."

"Thank you so much!" Lily said brightly as Ginny and Hermione came over, and they all gushed over the little kitten who weakly purred in her arms.

When they got back to Black Manor, Lily rushed to her father to tell him everything that had happened in Diagon Alley.

"Father, look!" she said excitedly when she found him in the living room, and she pulled the kitten from her pocket. "A man named Daren gave her to me when we were in the Magical Menagerie. I named her Atelix."

"Daren Cummings, yes I remember him. He sold a kitten to your mother as well, a little white one I believe. Your mother adored him, but I always thought it a bit odd that a man would want to breed cats for a living. Whether they're magical ones or not," he told her. "So you spent all of your money did you?"

"Well, I tried to."

"Lily, I told you to spend all of it! Leave!" he said with a wave of his hand.

"What? But father, I - I tried - I really did," she pleaded.

"She really did Sirius! I told you that she wouldn't be able to spend that much in one day, but no you insisted didn't you? She went all over Diagon Alley all day buying things, trying to spend all of the money you gave her. I for one think that she did an excellent job considering the fact that people kept giving her things and not letting her give them a dime in return," Lupin stated firmly when he and everyone else came into the living room.

"All right you can stay. Did you have fun?" he asked her.

"I had a lot of fun, Father?" She looked at him hesitantly.

"What is it?" he questioned her.

"It's just everyone was - well - treating me like I was their own daughter. I understand that people saw that I looked a lot like Mother, but why were they _so _kind? I mean, people I'd never met once in my life just came up to me and hugged me. Some of them were even crying."

"Lily, there's one thing you must understand about your mother, and that's that everyone loved her. She was so kind and generous. She would help anyone in need and not just because it made her look good or to soothe her own conscience, but because she honestly cared about people. That's why I had to protect her so much. Some people would try and take advantage of her kindness. She knew of course because she wasn't naive or stupid, but she would still help them anyway, and I had to make sure that she didn't get hurt," he told her smiling up at her.

"She was also purposed to today, Sirius," Lupin informed him and sat next to Dumbledore, who asked to see the kitten, it curled up in his arms and fell asleep.

"Really? And when were you going to tell me this?" he asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"It was just Fred and George," she said blushing fiercely, making Sirius laugh.

"I'll have to speak to those two," he said sternly and laughed when Lily shot him a warning glare. "You're too much like your mother, Lily. Harry, I need to talk to you. Do you mind sitting down?" he asked Harry who sat on the chair next to him. Lily and the others went to leave. "Lily, you can stay, you deserve to hear this as well."

"Alright," she said and sat next to him as everyone else left the room except for Dumbledore, Lupin, Harry, and Sirius.

"Now, I know both of you want to know what happened, so I'm going to tell you, and then Dumbledore here can make sense of it for you alright," he asked them and they nodded. "Harry, what you might have been able to figure out already is that the curse that hit me was not the Avada Kedavra curse because you saw the sparks that flew out of Bellatrix's wand were red and not green. The spell that she hit me with was just a stunning spell that made me fall back into the veil. The veil is the archway between the living and the dead. When I fell behind the veil, it felt as if I had fallen in acid, and my body was slowly dissolving, but I was still alive and I couldn't get out. I don't know how long I was in there, but someone came in and grabbed me and brought me out. The next thing I remember is waking up in Voldemort's dungeons."

"How did you live? How did you survive through all of that?" Harry asked him.

"Harry," Dumbledore said, still petting the sleeping kitten who was half the size of his hand. "You are supposed to already be dead when you pass through the archway. Sirius was not, so whatever's behind the veil had to slowly kill him because only spirits can pass on to the afterlife."

"But if he couldn't get out than how did someone else go in, get him, and step right out again?" Lily asked completely bewildered.

"When we were in the Ministry of Magic, Voldemort possessed Harry, and when I didn't kill Harry to kill Voldemort, he came out of Harry. When he knew that there was nothing left that he could do, he Disapparated with Bellatrix. The orb that concealed a very important prophecy concerning Harry, which was the reason Voldemort was there, was smashed. Voldemort quickly became aware that he now had absolutely no hold on Harry what so ever. So, I assume that when he Disapparated he went back to the Department of Mysteries to get Sirius. Voldemort has gone to great lengths to try and defeat death. He's done many experiments and it was revealed to us when he should have died fifteen years ago and didn't that at least one of these experiments worked. Whatever he did must have allowed him to pass back through the archway, alive. I imagine that he did go through a great deal of pain and was probably seriously injured in the process, but Bellatrix was there to make sure he got back to his Headquarters."

"Why did he even try to get Sirius though, Professor?" Harry asked.

"As I said before, he knew that he no longer had any hold on you. He thought that having Sirius would put the control back into his hands. Little did he know that an extremely clever, young witch was about to outsmart him." He winked at Lily and then turned to Harry with a more urgent look on his face. "But Harry, this means that our worst fear has happened. This means that the only thing that keeps Voldemort from complete immortality is _you're_ blood. You are now the _only_ one who can kill him and if anything happens to you, than Voldemort will be completely immortal," Dumbledore finished staring at Harry with concern in his eyes.


	7. Sorting a Sixth Year

**Chapter 7: Sorting a Sixth Year**

Harry woke up the next morning hoping that it was all a dream. That Dumbledore didn't just tell him last night that he is the only one who could kill Voldemort. But he knew that it wasn't a dream. It was real, it had happened, and there was nothing that he could do about it. He was going to have to face Voldemort and kill him or be killed himself. It was all up to him. The fate of the wizarding world was on his shoulders.

He reached over and put on his glasses. Ron looked up at him grimly from his bed. Harry had told Ginny, Ron, and Hermione about the whole thing last night.

He had questioned if he should or not, but Lily told him that he shouldn't have to deal with it alone, and that if his friends knew about it, they could help him through it.

Harry had felt a lot better telling them. Telling them all of it also meant that he had to tell them about the prophecy. None of them had really said anything, but then again what are you suppose to say when someone tells you something like that?

He and Ron got up and got dressed without saying a word. They walked out of their room and went to see if the girls had gotten up yet. Ron lightly knocked on the door.

"Come in," they heard someone say, and they opened the door and walked in the room.

"We just wanted to see if you were up yet," Ron told Hermione who was on her bed reading.

"Well I'm up," Hermione said looking up from her book.

Ron walked over to her bed, sat down next to her, and kissed her cheek. Harry looked over at the other two beds and saw that Ginny and Lily were still asleep. He smiled at Lily and wondered if there was ever a time when she wasn't beautiful.

"W-What's going o-on?" Lily said yawning, and she sat up slightly on her bed and looked around the room.

"Ron and Harry came to see if we were awake," Hermione answered her.

"Oh, good morning, Harry," she said smiling brightly up at him.

Every worry that he had been feeling when he woke up had disappeared as their eyes locked for a moment. He thought it was amazing how she could make him feel to happy when he had felt so sad just seconds before.

"Good morning, Lily," Harry replied.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" she question Hermione.

"I thought you might want your beauty sleep," she said looking back at her book and snuggling closer to Ron.

"Yes, well we can't all be naturally as gorgeous as you are. Some of us need a little extra help," she said smiling at her. Hermione looked up at her and rolled her eyes.

"She's right, you know," Ron said looking down at her, making her blush.

"So who's going to wake up sleeping beauty over there? I'm hungry," Lily asked and slammed herself back on her pillow.

"I wouldn't wake her up if I were you. She'll put a hex on you!" Ron warned.

"You sound like you speak from personal experience," she said, and Ron nodded.

Lily rolled her eyes and sat up. She looked over at Ginny to make sure she was asleep. She picked up her pillow and threw it as hard as she could at Ginny's head. Ginny woke up with a start.

"Whatcha do that for?" she moaned.

She quickly stood up, picked up the pillow, threw it back at Lily, and fell back on her bed.

"Ginny, Get up! I'm hungry!" Lily demanded.

"Food? Oh, okay," Ginny said sleepily as she sat up and noticed the boys in their room. "What are you guys in here for?" she asked.

"We came to see if you were awake," Harry answered her.

"Ginny, how came every time I wake you up you put a hex on me, but you didn't do anything to Lily?" Ron complained to her.

"Well, because," she answered him.

"Because why?"

"Because Lily is my friend and you are my brother," she said, throwing her pillow at Ron who caught it.

"Oh okay." Ron rolled his eyes.

The boys waited outside of the room to let the girls get dressed, and when they came out, they all walked down to the kitchen. When they got to the kitchen, they saw Madam Maxime talking vividly with Professor Dumbledore.

"I swear I didn't do anything!" Lily said shakily looking wide eyed at her old headmistress.

"What makes you zink zat I'm here for you Miz Black?" Madam Maxime asked her.

"Nothing ma'am. I just - um - why are you here?" Lily questioned.

"Not zat it's any of your business, Miz Black. But I am a member of ze Order," she said matter-of-factly.

"Oh," Lily said nervously, and she went to take her seat next to her father.

"So you 'ave transferred to 'ogwarts 'ave you?" Madam Maxime asked her even though she knew the answer.

"I have," Lily said, not looking up from the breakfast she had just started to eat.

"Well, Dumbledore, I must warn you about zis one zan," she said nodding in Lily's direction. "She is quite the handful. She'll be in your office often. In just 'er first year, she blew up ze potions class room."

"It's not my fault! I told Professor Lemonte that for the memory potion the snake fangs didn't need to be crushed. She yelled at me and told me that _she_ was the professor and _she_ knew what she was talking about," Lily explained as she rolled her eyes.

Harry had to bite his lip in fear that he would start cracking up laughing from the thought of Lily correcting a teacher, and how angry Snape would be should he every do the same.

"And what about during your zird year? You knocked Flour Delecour off her broom, fifty feet in ze air."

"I barley touched her!" Lily argued.

"She broke her arm!"

"It was a Quidditch match. What was I supposed to do, politely ask her to move out of my way?"

"Just last year you turned John Declair into a pig, and didn't tell anyone for zree days! It wasn't until ze came to my office and squealed madly zat I figured out who 'e was and transformed him back!" Madam Maxime said hotly.

"He cornered me into a wall, had his hands all over me, and then he tried to kiss me! What did you expect me to turn him into? I thought a pig suited him!" Lily protested.

"You didn't 'ave to turn 'im into anyzing."

"Yes I did."

Sirius started to laugh uncontrollably and was joined by Lupin who was standing in the doorway listening to the two of them. Lupin entered the room and sat opposite of Harry.

"Well, Dumbledore does she remind you of anyone?" Lupin asked him.

"Yes, indeed she does," he confirmed.

"What are you talking about?" Lily asked them confused and slightly annoyed.

"Your argument was just identical to the ones I had many times in my office with a certain young man, many years ago," Dumbledore informed her.

"It wasn't _that _many years ago, Dumbledore," Sirius protested.

"No, no, not _that _many years ago, but certainly a few," he said grinning back at Sirius.

"It's good zan, Dumbledore, zat you'll be able to control her," Madam Maxime added hastily.

"Well, not exactly. Of course the young man I speak of was Sirius and I could never control him, so I probably won't be able to control his daughter, but I'm sure that Lily will do just fine at Hogwarts," Dumbledore said smiling down at Lily.

"Thank you, Professor Dumbledore," Lily smiled back up at him.

"Well, I must be going now," Madam Maxime said as she stood up. Dumbledore stood up as well.

"If you must," he said as he shook her hand.

Madam Maxime left the room just as Professor McGonagall entered it carrying an old looking hat and a four-legged stool.

"I got what you asked for Albus. I assumed why you wanted it, but may I ask as to why she won't be sorted at the Sorting Ceremony with the others?" Professor McGonagall asked Dumbledore.

"Well, in all my years of working at the school, we only had one other student transfer from another school, and I must say he looked rather odd up there with the first years. I thought that Lily might not want to stand out more than she already will," he informed her.

"In other words it would be too much for me because of my Empathy?" Lily added grinning.

"Yes, there is that." He nodded.

"Well, I must say I'm rather curious as to what house she'll be placed in," Professor McGonagall said beaming down at Lily. "Shall we?" she asked Dumbledore.

"Yes, we shall," he said gesturing his hand at an empty place in the corner.

Professor McGonagall went over and set down the stool. Lily felt slightly nervous, but still excited.

"Lily dear you can come over here and have a seat. It will only take a moment," Professor McGonagall said, acting as a grandmother would with her favorite grandchild.

"Okay," Lily said before getting up, walking over to the stool, and sitting down.

"If you don't get sorted into Gryffindor none of us are ever going to talk to you ever again. You know that right?" Ginny teased.

"Miss. Weasley, that was very rude!" Professor McGonagall said sternly.

"Sorry Professor, I was just trying to make her nervous. I mean, we all had to be Sorted in front of the entire school. It was completely nerve wrecking. I was just trying to help her get the full experience of it, that's all," Ginny explained.

"Yes, well, it was still rude," Professor McGonagall retorted.

"Wait, wait, I have to say something," Sirius said jumping to his feet and walking over to Lily. "When I was sorted into Gryffindor, I received a Howler from just about every single member of my family the day after the Sorting Ceremony. My parents were so disappointed that they told me that I was a blemish on the family name. And when I came home for the Christmas holidays they locked me up in the dungeon for three days," Sirius said smiling brightly at her.

"Father, I know that Ginny wanted me to get the full experience, but really, I am quite nervous already," Lily said looking slightly frightened.

"No, no, that's not what I mean. I mean, I hated them for what they did to me just because I wasn't Sorted into Slytherin. What I'm trying to say is what I've always wanted to tell my child one day. Lily, it doesn't matter what house you're sorted into. I'll still love you no matter what," Sirius finished and hugged his slightly surprised daughter. "Okay, you may commence with the Sorting."

Sirius sat back down as Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on her head. Harry wondered why it didn't go over her eyes, like it did when it was placed on his head, but then he remembered that his head was probably much smaller then Lily's is now when he wore the hat.

Lily thought it a little strange that the fate of where she would be at school rested solely on an old hat, but Snape had told her about it before, and she knew that it could read minds. She didn't want to be rude or interrupt it, so (as hard as it was) she tried not to think as the Hat started to talk to her in her mind.

__

"Mmmm, Professor McGonagall told me I would be Sorting an older student, but you seem to be much older than any sixth year I've met. Yet, you are only fifteen years, eight months, and twenty nine days old. Yes, I see. . . I thought it easier to place older students the other few times that I've had to, but your not easy, no, not at all. . . You're braver than most witches and wizards twice your age. That would make Godric Gryffindor himself very proud, oh yes - no, no, not Gryffindor. . . You're very clever, yes, very, more so than some of your Professors claim to be. Ravenclaw would surely welcome you, but Ravenclaw won't be willing to put up with those antics you've become so accustom too. Oh yes I see it all right here in your head. Very funny I must say. . . You're definitely not a Slytherin, no, no, definitely not, you're far too kind. . . Kind, yes, very kind, you're an Empath I see. I can tell what others are thinking, but you, you can tell what they're feeling. I've Sorted your ancestors that have had the same gift. Where I sorted them, they did tremendously well. . . Kind so kind, it's been a pleasure Sorting you my dear, like the Empaths before you, you'll do well in, HUFFPLEPUFF!" the Sorting Hat said out loud.

Lily took the hat off (after thinking a quick thank you) and gave it to Professor McGonagall. Sirius ran over to her, picked her up from under her arms, and spun her around in a circle.

"Hufflepuff!" he said happily as he let her down and hugged her. "Just like your mother!"

Harry couldn't help but feel slightly let down at the fact that she wasn't in Gryffindor with him, but he was happy for her anyway. Mrs. Weasley and Mad Eye Moody quickly walked in.

"What's all the noise about?" Mrs. Weasley asked them.

"No need to worry, Molly. Lily was just sorted into Hufflepuff," Professor McGonagall told her proudly. "I'm sure Professor Sprout will be pleased."

A week had passed, and Harry found it incredibly easy to talk to Lily who in turn enjoyed talking to him as well.

Harry let Ron borrow his invisibility cloak so that he and Hermione could find a private place to "talk" as Ron so elegantly put it.

Harry didn't mind because he got the room to himself to spend time with Lily. They talked for hours on end about everything, the prophecy, Voldemort, the Ministry, but not just that.

They talked about him, the real him, not The-Boy-Who-Lived and everything linked with it, but him. They talked about what he wanted to do with his future. They talked about his parents, how he hated to dance, and about Quidditch.

Harry loved just sitting there and talking to her. He also learned a lot about her. They talked about what it was like to be raised by Snape, Beauxbatons, life in France, and then more about Quidditch.

Talking to Lily wasn't like talking to Ron or Hermione (though he did enjoy talking to them). Talking to Lily just seemed to come second nature.

It wasn't like talking with Cho Chang either. When he talked to Cho, he always felt like he needed to impress her. He never knew what to say, and he was always nervous when he was around her.

But Lily, Lily was different. He felt like he didn't need to be anyone else, but himself. Lily seemed to like him being himself too. And it was okay if he didn't know what to say because the silence was comfortable as well. He wasn't nervous when he was around her anymore either, just really happy.

He felt like she was just a big part of him that he had been missing for a long time, but now felt complete. He found himself wanting to be closer to her. All he wanted to do was to grab her, hold her in his arms, and never let go.

He had a feeling that she felt the same way because she started to sit closer to him and hold his hand as they were talking.

"Lily, can I ask you something?" Harry asked Lily while they were talking one night.

"Yes, of course you can. You can ask me anything you like," Lily replied simply.

"What do you think of me? I mean, what do you really think of me?" Harry questioned her nervously.

"I think your a very kind, thoughtful man, that just seems to never gets the chance to relax and be himself," she said smiling up at him.

"Oh," he sighed.

"I like you too, Harry," she said. Seeing the confused look on his face, she quickly added, "I'm an Empath remember?"

"So, you mean - you - you've know how I feel about you all along?" he said sounding very embarrassed.

"Ever since Father gave me the potion to help me control my empathy and not take it away completely, I've been able to sense all of the strong feelings that anyone has had around me. So yes, to answer your question."

"Why didn't you say anything?" he asked her.

"Well, I thought that since the feeling was mutual, I didn't need to. I thought that it would just happen naturally," she said and then leaned into him so closely Harry could feel her warm breath on his face. Just then they heard a loud crack, and after seeing who it was, Lily quickly pulled back.

"Lily, my love you're cheating on us?" Fred said astounded.

"And to think we gave you the best few weeks of our lives!" George added, pretending to start weeping.

"It's okay George, there, there. It's alright," Fred said, patting George on the back. "We don't need to take this. Let's go."

"Yeah I'm sure we'll find someone, someday, who can appreciate us and not just cast us aside like we're nothing," George told him wiping the fake tears from his eyes.

"Before we go, here, you can have this. To remember us by." Fred sighed and handed her a fairly heavy box.

There was another loud crack and Fred and George were gone. Harry and Lily exchanged looks of confusion and laughter as the door opened and closed with no one in sight.

"What's that?" They heard Hermione ask them just before Ron pulled the invisibility cloak off of them and gave it back to Harry.

"I don't know, but I think I just called off my engagement with Fred and George," Lily answered her and smiled at Harry who blushed brightly.

"Fred and George were here?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, they gave me this to remember them by," Lily said as she opened the box.

There were two books that looked like journals and a few smaller ones. They were blue with silver embroidery on the right hand corner, each of them saying Lillian Black, with a small lily next to her name.

"What would Fred and George give you a bunch of journals for?" Ron asked her.

"I don't know," she replied.

"I don't think those are normal journals, Lily," Harry told her, getting up and getting ink and a quill. "Can I see one?" he asked her and she handed him one of the journals.

"Harry, what are you doing?" Lily asked him.

"Do you remember when I told about Tom Riddle's diary?" Harry asked her.

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?" she questioned him.

"WHAT'S GOING ON IN HERE?" Someone shouted from the door making them all jump and the girls scream. "Did I scare you?" Sirius asked them grinning widely and then started cracking up laughing at the looks on their faces.

"WHAT'S GOING ON DOWN THERE?" They heard Mrs. Weasley shout from her room.

"NOTHING MOLLY. IT'S JUST ME SCARING THE KIDS," Sirius shouted back.

"SIRIUS IT'S LATE!" Mrs. Weasley shouted back angrily.

"I KNOW, I KNOW, I WAS JUST HAVING A BIT OF FUN. I'M GOING TO BED NOW," Sirius shouted sounding annoyed. "She's no fun. What you got there?" he said looking at the books in Lily's hands.

"It's just a few journals Fred and George gave me," Lily answered him.

"What would Fred and George give you journals for?" Sirius asked her and she shrugged.

"I don't think they're normal journals," Harry said as he started to write in the one that Lily gave him.

__

My name is Harry Potter

He waited and nothing happened. Looking confused, he reached for his wand and pointed it at the journal.

"I solemnly swear, I'm up to no good," he said and the words disappeared. He waited again and still nothing happened. "What?"

"Can I see one?" Hermione asked and Lily handed her one. She took out her wand and put it on the journal. "I solemnly swear, I'm up to no good," she said as words appeared on the journal.

_My name is Harry Potter_

"Harry you were right, look!" Hermione said happily and handed Harry the journal.

"They're so you can send secrete messages to whoever has the other ones," Harry said handing one of them to Lily.

"That's brilliant. Wouldn't you say, Father?" Lily asked Sirius.

"Yeah it really is," Sirius said sounding intrigued.

They opened the other, smaller journals and did the same as Hermione and the words _My name is Harry Potter_ were written on all of them except for Harry's and after a few seconds the words disappeared. Hermione took the quill from Harry and wrote on hers

__

Lily, what were you and Harry doing when Fred and George got here?

The words only appeared on Lily's journal only. Lily smiled and took the quill from Hermione and wrote

__

Hermione, we were about to do what I'm sure you and Ron were probably doing.

Both of the girls smiled and started to giggle uncontrollably at the confused looks on the boys' faces.

"Let me see the quill and ink, I want to try!" Sirius said eagerly.

"We should get to bed before Mrs. Weasley comes down to check on us," Hermione told them all.

"Oh, I guess your right, tomorrow then?" Sirius asked Lily sounding disappointedly.

"Yeah, tomorrow," Lily replied.

"Okay come on let's go," Sirius ground. Hermione and Lily said goodnight to the boys as Sirius ushered them out of the room. "You know Hermione, you're almost as fun as Molly."

"Good morning, Young Mistress," said a high squeaky voice standing next to Lily's bed.

"Quincy!" Lily cried and quickly got up and hugged the small old house elf.

"How is Young Mistress this fine morning?" Quincy asked her.

"I'm fine, and you Quincy?"

"Quincy is doing alright, miss. Now that she is with her young mistress again," she replied.

"That's good," Lily told her.

"Quincy has packed all of Young Mistress' things, so you are ready for the train, Miss. Quincy got here very early this morning, so she also packed Young Mistress' friends' things. Quincy also saw M - M," she stopped and started to sob.

"Quincy what is it?" Lily asked her.

"It's nothing, Young Mistress. Don't you worry about a thing, miss," Quincy told her.

"What's going on?" Hermione said, emerging from her blankets. "Who's that?"

"Hermione, I would like you to meet my house elf Quincy. Quincy, meet my friend Hermione Granger," Lily introduced them.

"It's very nice to meet you," Hermione said politely.

"Who are we meeting?" asked Ginny rolling over on her side and sitting up. "Oh, hello, my name's Ginny."

"Quincy is very please to meet both of you and hopes that she did not wake Young Mistress' friends," she said wiping the tears from her eyes.

"No, no, of course not, we were just about to get up anyway," Hermione told her quickly and Ginny nodded in agreement.

"Now, what was bothering you before?" Lily asked her.

"It's just that, well, Quincy saw M - M," tears started to stream down her face.

"You saw Father?" Lily questioned and Quincy nodded.

"Yes, miss. Quincy thought she would never see M - Master Black again after the night, Young Master Devin took our Mistress Hannah away from him." Quincy wiped the tears from her eyes again.

"It's alright, Quincy. Did you see Dobby?" Lily asked her.

"Yes, Young Mistress. Quincy told him to pack Young Master Harry Potter and his Weasley's things without waking them," she told Lily.

"Quincy, Dobby doesn't have to do that! The boys can do it themselves!" Hermione said, getting up, walking over to them, and sitting on Lily's bed.

"Why would you like Dobby to do something else, Miss?" Quincy asked.

"No, no, I just meant that he didn't have to do anything," Hermione told her.

"Quincy already packed Young Mistress, Miss Ginny, and Miss Hermione's things. Dobby is packing the boy's things. Is that not what house elves are for?" Quincy asked her.

"No, it's not. You have just as much right to sit around and do nothing as wizards do. And if you do work, you should be paid for your work," Hermione said sternly.

"Quincy is sorry, but house elves are not as lazy as wizards. All wizards are like house elves' children. Does Young Miss Hermione pay her mother for taking care of Miss Hermione? Does Mistress Granger sit around and do nothing?" Hermione looked at her confused. "Just as I thought. Now, it's time for you to get dressed and come down to the kitchen for breakfast. It pleases Quincy very much to see that Young Mistress is well." Quincy left the room, leaving a very bewildered Hermione.

"I can't believe that you have an house elf!" Hermione told Lily sounding like she was disappointed in her.

"Why not? Quincy's been in my family for years," Lily said confused.

"House elves are extremely mistreated, and they deserve to be treated as more than just servants. They should be able to make their own choices and have just as many rights as wizards do! You should give her clothes and set her free to live her own life!" Hermione protested.

"Okay Hermione, you need to calm down! First of all not _all _house elves are mistreated. Secondly, house elves wouldn't know what to do with themselves if they were all set free and had as many rights as wizards do. It's not like taking an innocent person and making them a slave. House elves are supposed to assist the families that they serve. That's what they're here for. That's their purpose. And thirdly, Quincy raised my mother from a baby and did the same for me. I will never give her clothes! It would be too painful for the both of us. She has been the closest thing that I've ever had to a mother," Lily said teary eyed.

"I'm sorry, Lily. Maybe Quincy isn't mistreated, but a lot of house elves are and something needs to be done about it!" Hermione explained.

"Nothing can be done about it. House elves enjoy what they do and before you go and try to ruin it for them, you should talk to them and find out what they think," Lily told her before getting up and getting dressed.

After breakfast Mrs. Weasley told them to start to get ready to leave. They didn't have to get their trucks because Dobby and Quincy had already brought them down stairs.

"Father, it's not too late to change your mind you know?" Lily said tearfully as Sirius walked her to the door.

"I know, but I must be a good father and make sure that my daughter is well educated," Sirius told her.

"Okay," Lily said trying to avoid Sirius' eyes.

"Make your mother and I proud! And owl me every chance you get," Sirius told her and pulled her into a hug. "I love you, Lily."

"I love you too, Father," she said when they pulled away. Both of them had tears streaming down their cheeks.

"Harry you watch out for her, will you?" Sirius asked him.

"Of course I will, Sirius," Harry told him.

"Thank you," Sirius said putting his hand on Harry's shoulder appreciatively. "Have a good term, Harry."

After Sirius gave Lily another hug and Quincy told her that she would see her at Hogwarts when she got to her dormitory, they all left with Lupin and Tonks at Harry and Lily's sides.

Lily could hardly believe it. Most of her life she had lived in France, she'd never met her father, and for the last five years she had gone to Beauxbatons. Now, she lived in England (not to mention the same house she lived in the first five years of her life), not only did she meet her father, but she had lived with him, and she was going to Hogwarts. If you would have told her even just a few months ago that all of this would happen, she'd think you had lost your mind completely.

But it was happening! She was on her way to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the same school that her parents had gone to.

With everything that was happening, she knew that she should be a lot happier than she was. She just couldn't help but feel as if she was leaving half of her behind. And indeed she was, but she knew that she had to go to school.

She wiped the tears from her eyes as they boarded the Knight Bus. Lily didn't even notice when the other people on the bus went flying off their seats when the Knight Bus started to go down the street at break neck speed. She had really good reflexes, so she herself stayed in her seat.

She stared out the window and couldn't help but feel extremely vulnerable. She was going to a new school and she knew that she would have to leave her new friends that she had met at 12 Grimmauld Place because they were all in Gryffindor and she would have to stay with the Hufflepuff House.

Just as she started to feel completely overwhelmed, she felt a warm hand grasp hers.

"It's going to okay, Lily," Harry whispered to her. "I'll personally make sure of it."

Her worries instantly left her as she smiled up at him. Somehow she believed him and felt a lot more secure knowing that he would be there to watch over her and protect her. She also couldn't help but notice how much she had fallen in love with him.

Harry didn't know what had happened to make him feel the way he was feeling. He just somehow knew that it was his job to protect her and make sure that nothing came in the way of her happiness.

The minute he took her hand, he knew that he was in love with her and swore to himself that as long as he still had air in his lungs, he wouldn't let anything ever hurt her.


	8. A New Start

****

Title: The Empath

Story Description: This is my version of the sixth book. Sirius Black DID NOT DIE when he fell into the veil at the Ministry of Magic; instead, he was taken as prisoner by Lord Voldemort, so that he could use Sirius as bait to get Harry. Little did anyone know there was someone who was looking for him, someone who was not at the Ministry, someone who has never even met Sirius. A girl whose identity has yet to reveal itself. But when she tries to save Sirius she can't do it alone. When she seeks help she goes to none other than Harry Potter. Who is this girl? How will she and Harry save Sirius from under Lord Voldemort's nose? Or will they? Will they not even make it out alive?

Chapter Description: Welcome to Hogwarts!  
Lily gets greeted in many different ways from everyone at her new school. First impressions aren't always what they seems, especially when meeting Slytherin's prince.  
"Don't be nervous. You'll do fine, and besides, everyone will love you," he reassured her.  
"Well, let's see, I'm going to show up on my first night at Hogwarts with Harry Potter, the most famous boy in the wizarding world, so all of the girls are going to hate me from the start. And my father is supposedly an escaped murderer, yeah, I can see how you'd come to that assumption," Lily said rolling her eyes.

Chapter 8: A New Start

After everyone said goodbye to Lupin, Tonks, and Mrs. Weasley, they boarded the Hogwarts Express. Harry had only just let go of Lily's hand, to help her pull her trunk into a compartment at the end of the train.

"Alright, now that we've found a compartment, we'll see you later. We have a prefects meeting," Hermione told Harry and Lily before Ginny and Ron followed her out of the compartment.

"Well, I guess it's just us," Harry told Lily and then sat down.

"Yeah," she murmured and sat down next to him.

"Don't be nervous. You'll do fine, and besides, everyone will love you," he reassured her.

"Well, let's see, I'm going to show up on my first night at Hogwarts with Harry Potter, the most famous boy in the wizarding world, so all of the girls are going to hate me from the start. And my father is supposedly an escaped murderer, yeah, I can see how you'd come to that assumption," Lily said rolling her eyes.

"Hey, Harry, can I sit in her with you?" asked Neville Longbottom when he stuck his head in the compartment.

"Sure Neville, come in. Have a seat," Harry said, getting up and helping Neville with his trunk. "This is Lily, by the way. Lily this is a friend of mine, Neville Longbottom."

"Nice to meet you, Lily," said Neville as he shook her hand with his eyes open three time their normal size, staring at Lily.

"It's nice to meet you too, Neville."

"Who are we meeting?" asked Dean Thomas as he walked into the compartment alone.

"Dean, meet Lily. Lily this is Dean Thomas, another friend," Harry introduced them.

Much to Harry's misfortune, Dean sat down next to Lily after shaking her hand, staring at her like Neville still was.

"Dean, where's Seamus?" Harry asked him, trying to get his attention away from Lily.

"Seamus? Oh, yeah, er - " Dean said as if trying to awaken himself. He looked at Harry. "Seamus is a prefect this year along with Parvati, they're at the prefects meeting."

"Oh, where's Lavender then?" Harry asked him, trying to keep his attention away from Lily.

"She's with Padma and some other Ravenclaws in the front of the train," he answered him and turned to Lily again.

After what seemed like forever, the train stopped and they all filed out of the compartment.

"Oh there you are," said Ginny when she, Hermione, Ron, and Seamus caught up with them.

"Who's that?" Seamus asked goggling at Lily.

"This is Lily," Dean told him.

"Dean! What are you doing?" Ginny asked him sounding annoyed at the fact that her boyfriend was drooling over her new friend.

"Nothing at all Ginny, I'm just welcoming the new girl," Dean answered her and quickly ran over to her side. Seamus took his place next to Lily with no hesitation.

"You're too old to be a first year, and I've never seen you before," Seamus said as if he were trying to work out a complicated mathematical equation.

"It's my sixth year, and I just moved here from France," Lily told him.

"Cool, we've never had a student transfer from another school before. C'est très agréable pour vous rencontrer, mon nom est Seamus Finnigan," he said, taking her hand and gently kissing it.

"It's very nice to meet you too, Seamus," Lily replied, quickly taking her hand away.

"I picked up some French when some of the Beauxbatons students came here a few years ago," Seamus told her.

"Okay, enough of that. We have to get in a carriage," Hermione said sounding annoyed.

Hermione and Ron left to take another carriage since they only held six people each.

"Let me help you," Seamus said, opening the carriage door and taking Lily's hand to help her in.

"No, really, it's alright. I'm fine," Lily tried to explain to him, but he didn't take notice and helped her into the carriage anyway.

Harry and Ginny were the last to get in. When Harry sat down, he looked at Seamus, who was sitting next to Lily, and felt very angry at Seamus for so bluntly flirting with Lily. It was one thing when Fred and George did it, Harry didn't even care when they flirted with her, but Seamus was really making him mad.

__

'What right does he think he has, flirting with her. He's practically throwing himself at her. How pathetic can you get?' Harry thought as he glared at his fellow Gryffindor, though Seamus wasn't even looking at him to notice.

"Lily, it's getting a bit drafty over here next to the door. You know how I get chilled. You wouldn't mind too horribly much switching places with me, would you?" Ginny asked Lily and then threw a quick grin in Harry's direction, who returned it with a much wider grin.

"Oh, sure, no problem, Ginny," Lily said happily. She stood up and sat next to Harry, leaving a very disappointed Seamus.

Harry made a mental note to remember to thank Ginny later as Lily smiled brightly up at him and nudged a little closer. He smiled back.

"We're here," Ginny announced when the carriages stopped.

Seamus sprang to his feet and jumped out of the carriage.

"Allow me to help you, Lily?" he asked, taking her hand.

"Thank you very much, Seamus," she replied, stepped out of the carriage, and stood to the side next to Seamus as the rest of the boys filed out.

"Dean!" Ginny said sounding annoyed. She was waiting to step out of the carriage herself.

"Yes?" he asked without turning around to look at her.

"Forget it!" she seethed to herself.

"Here Ginny, let me help you," Harry said stepping forward and stretched out his hand for Ginny to take.

"Thank you, Harry," Ginny told him as she glared daggers at he boyfriend.

They all started to walk up to the castle.

"Wait, where's Harry?" Lily asked as she turned around and saw him. She took his hand in hers and pulled him next to her. "Glad we're out of there," she whispered.

"Yeah. I told you, my friends would love you," he whispered back. "Nervous?"

"A little, yeah. Is it really that obvious?"

"Well, only to my hand that I've lost total and complete feeling of."

"Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry!" she said letting go of his hand.

"No, it's alright," he assured her and took her hand back. "That's what I'm here for."

"Mr. Potter, Ms. Black, a word if you don't mind?" Professor McGonagall asked, standing on the step of the castle.

"Yes, of course Professor," Harry said, shaking his head to trying to get his concentration off of Lily and onto Professor McGonagall's words.

Still hand in hand, they followed her into her office.

"Would you like me to speak to you separately or together?" she asked them.

"Professor, this isn't about what I think it may be about is it?" Lily asked her sounding confused. "Because, Professor, I assure you that you don't have to worry about me and Harry. After all we- "

"Ms. Black, I have no cause nor concern about whatever kind of relationship that you and Mr. Potter may or may not be developing. I am simply here to make you aware of a few minor details that the two of you might find worth knowing for the following school year."

"What you mean Professor? Is it something that has to do with The Order?" Harry asked her.

"No, no, nothing like that," she answered him shaking her head. "I just wanted to let you know, Ms. Black, that Madam Pomfrey will be making your potion daily and you can go to the hospital wing and get it from her every morning. She'll give it to you in a flask so that you can take it as needed throughout the day. Also, Professor Dumbledore has asked that you do not let anyone know about how Professor Snape raised you. Tell the others about this as well. This is very important, Ms. Black, you mustn't have any contact with Professor Snape whatsoever outside of classes. Do you understand the importance of this?"

"Yes, Professor I do," Lily told her looking slightly letdown.

"Professor Snape informed us of the details which we are going to say is your history. As for anything else you wish to reveal about yourself, it is completely up to you."

"And what about me Professor?" Harry asked her.

"Oh, yes, Mr. Potter," she said as a wide grin spread across her face. "I am please to inform you that you are the new Gryffindor Quidditch Captain."

Harry suddenly felt a flood of happiness run through him.

"Quidditch Captain?" he asked in amazement. "Really?"

"Yes, Mr. Potter. Professor Dumbledore and I thought you were the most suited for the job," she told him, still smiling at him.

"Congratulations, Harry," Lily said as she grabbed him around his neck and hugged him.

"Thank you. Thank you so much, Professor McGonagall! I won't let you down!"

"I trust that you wont, Mr. Potter! Gryffindor deserves to win the Quidditch Cup again this year!" she said insistently. "And if it doesn't get in the way of your studies, Professor Dumbledore has given you permission to continue the Defense Against The Dark Arts group that you started."

"Yes, Professor. Thank you again."

"Now, lets be on our way. The feast will be starting soon," she said ushering Harry and Lily out of her office.

Harry was beaming as they entered the Great Hall. He was smiling brightly at Lily who was still holding his hand.

"I'll see the two of you later," Professor McGonagall said before departing to get the first years.

"Ms. Black!" They heard someone shout. When they looked over to the Hufflepuff table, they saw Professor Sprout quickly walking toward them. "Ms. Black, how wonderful it is to meet you! I'm Professor Sprout, Head of Hufflepuff House."

"It's wonderful to meet you too, Professor," Lily said, smiling.

"You look so much like your mother! I was Head of Hufflepuff house when she went to school here as well," Professor Sprout told her, beaming. "I thought that I could introduce you to your fellow classmates in Hufflepuff before the Sorting Ceremony."

"That's sounds lovely. I'll see you tomorrow morning before breakfast, Harry?" she asked turning to him.

"Yes, of course. I'll see you then. And I'll tell the others what Professor McGonagall said."

"Okay, bye then," she said as she regretfully let go of his hand.

Harry slowly walked to the Gryffindor table while watching Lily walk to the Hufflepuff table.

"It's a big castle, but I'm sure you'll see her again mate," Ron said, interrupting him from his thoughts.

"Yeah, I know. I just wanted to make sure that she's alright. It's her first day, and she's nervous. I can't imagine how completely nerve-racking it would be to transfer from another school sixth year. I mean just look, everyone in the Hall's staring at her."

"Oh, I know. Come on this way, we're sitting over here. That's a good boy," Ron said, steering Harry over to their table.

"So, Harry, what did Professor McGonagall want?" Hermione asked when he and Ron sat down.

"Oh, she wanted to tell Lily that she can get her potion from Madam Pomfrey and not to tell anyone that Snape raised her," he told them lowering his voice.

"What did she need you there for?" Ron asked him.

"She wanted to tell me that I'm the new Gryffindor Quidditch Captain," he answered him nonchalantly as a grin spread across his face.

"Quidditch Captain? Quidditch Captain? Do you hear that everyone? Harry's the new Gryffindor Quidditch Captain!!" Ron shouted down the table making everyone cheer.

"I wonder what they're all shouting about," said Justin Finch-Fletchley curiously.

"Harry's the new Gryffindor Quidditch captain," Lily told him, looking over at Harry fondly.

"How do you know Harry Potter?" a very pretty girl with shoulder length brown hair named Paris Sittle asked her.

"Well, our families have some what of a history with each other and we just met over the summer," she told her.

"I know that everyone wants to know, but are just to afraid to ask, so I'm just going to come out and ask. Is Sirius Black your father or in anyway related to you?" the short haired blonde sitting next to her named Emily Tarone asked.

"Yes, my mother's name was Hannah Patil and my father's name is Sirius Black," she told them, inwardly crossing her fingers.

"Really? Well, er - you don't need to tell us anymore than you're ready for us to know. We're just getting to know you a bit, that's all," Emily told her smiling.

"Thank you." Lily was grateful for their kindness.

"Hey, look who's staring at Lily," Paris said nodding over to the Slytherin table.

"Draco Malfoy," said a girl with long blonde hair named Katie McClain. She was sitting opposite of Lily. "Those are his two goons sitting next to him, Crabbe and Goyle, I believe. The one girl who's glaring at you is Pansy Parkinson."

"Draco hates Harry," Ernie Macmillan told her.

"The feeling's mutual. Harry's told me about him," Lily said taking a quick glance at Draco and turning back around.

"He's hated him ever since the first day of school. Pretty stupid of him if you ask me."

"Why's that Ernie?" Justin asked him.

"Well, think about it, You-Know-Who is Harry's archenemy, right?" he asked, to which they all nodded. "Yeah, well Harry's faced You-Know-Who five times now, and he came out fine. I mean, does Draco really think that Harry's really afraid of him at all? If You-Know-Who can't beat Harry than what makes Draco think that he's any match for him?" Ernie said and they all nodded in agreement.

Professor McGonagall put the four-legged stool in the front of the Great Hall and placed the Sorting Hat on it. Everyone in the Hall went quiet as a long tear near the brim of the hat opened wide like a mouth, and the hate broke into song:

__

Years have come and gone with me on my chair

This year there is something important that I would like to share

The four founders of Hogwarts put me in charge of sorting you

So this is what I must do

Though I fear some of you misunderstand exactly what I'm here to do

I must tell you that you all have weaknesses and strengths, but this is nothing new

Listen to me, my point is coming soon

__

You will fight until the end brave Gryffindor

Forever will you roar

__

There will never be a riddle or question that a Ravenclaw cannot figure out

Look to logic first and you will never be in doubt

__

No one can tell you if a task is too great or small

For Slytherin you will never cease to try to rise above all 

__

But when the day grows dark and the end is nearer and everyone has given up at best

Hufflepuff kind old friend this is where you come in and take care of all the rest

__

Now pay attention because this is where you must really listen to me

I see your thoughts and place you where I know you should be

I divide you according to your strengths but this is not where it ends you see

As you live your life you will realize that I'm right and become the person that I told you, you ought to be

Now is the time to allow your strengths to appear

If you don't put them together and stand as one, the end may be near

When we are taken from our element and brought to places and fears unknown

We must pull together and face one another, though we may not like what we're shown

__

What you do with this knowledge is completely up to you

I'm just here, like years before to let you know what you can do best too

Now that I've told you what I've seen through all these years and made use of all my sense

Let sorting now commence!

After the Sorting Ceremony was over, Professor Dumbledore stood up, and the hall, which was full of chattering teens, quickly quieted.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I must admit that it is good to be back myself." The entire hall filled with cheering and clapping from the students and the teachers. "Thank you, thank you, now there is only one thing left to say, tuck in." Dumbledore finished and sat down as food appeared out of nowhere and filled all of the plates.

The five long tables in the Great Hall were filled with delicious foods that satisfied everyone's diverse tastes. Lily took a sip of her pumpkin juice, and as she set it back down on the table a small white lily fell next to her plate.

"What's that?" Paris asked.

"I dunno," she answered her. As she picked up the lily, it turned into a small piece of parchment and fell open into the palm of her hand.

__

Lily,

Meet me at the entrance of the Great Hall tomorrow morning before breakfast?

Harry

"It's from Harry, he wants me to meet him in the entrance hall tomorrow," Lily told them.

"That's so sweet," Paris said looking at the parchment.

"It's just a just a piece of parchment," Justin stated.

"Not that you stupid prat! The fact that he sent it over as a lily. It's just sweet," she told him.

Lily took out her wand and waved it once over the parchment, wiping it clean. She thought for a moment, and then did it again. A message appeared on the note that read:

__

Harry,

I see Hermione's taught you a trick. It was very beautiful, thank you. Oh, definitely. I'll see you then. Goodnight,

Lily

"A seeker's desire," she said as she pointed her wand at the parchment. It then transformed into a golden snitch.

"That's really cool!" Ernie said watching it fly over to Harry.

Lily watched as Harry quickly grabbed it and read the letter. He looked up and smiled at her. She smiled back at him and began to eat her dinner.

"That was strange," Hermione said as she, Ron, and Harry were walking up to the Gryffindor common room.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked her.

"She's talking about how there weren't any new teachers at the staff table, so we still don't know who the new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher is," said Ron, taking Hermione's hand.

"How very observant of you Ron," Hermione told him, making him blush.

"We'll probably find out tomorrow when classes start," Harry stated.

"Yeah, probably. I'm so tired," Hermione sighed and leaned her head on Ron's shoulder while they walked up the stairs.

"Then I'll carry you up," Ron said and picked her up. She quickly put her hands around his neck.

"How can you do that?" she asked him, slightly shocked.

"Quidditch," he replied simply.

"The next time I complain about you playing Quidditch, remind me of this, okay?"

"Okay."

"Oh, Hermione, thanks for helping me with that lily thing. I think she really liked it," Harry said after saying the password to the Fat Lady and walking into the Common room.

"You're welcome Harry."

Harry said goodnight to Hermione and Ron and left to go to bed to let them say goodnight alone. He thought of Lily smiling at him from the Hufflepuff table as he drifted off to sleep.

The next morning Lily woke up early, got dressed, and ran down to the entrance hall. When she got there, someone grabbed her from behind. She grabbed the person's wrist and twisted it causing the person to release her.

While her hand was still twisting the person's wrist, she turned around and slammed them against the wall, and quickly pulled out a dagger from her robes, only to find herself eye to eye with Goyle. The Slytherin seemed surprised and in a great deal of pain, but she didn't loosen her grip. In fact, she pressed the blade further into his neck only just before the point of breaking through his skin.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," a voice from behind her said, and she released the Slytherin as people filed in from the Great Hall to see what the commotion was all about. She turned around to look at the owner of the voice and put the dagger back in its sheath in her robes.

She was about to ask him a question when she heard the much larger and now very embarrassed and angry Slytherin start to say something. She reached for a smaller dagger from inside her boot, and without hesitation she quickly turn and threw it at him. It caught the sleeve of his robes and pinned his arm to the wall causing him to curse. That was meant to hit him, hit the wall with a loud blow, but only leave scorch marks on the wall.

"Well looks like that might have hurt," she retorted watching the large boy struggle to pull the dagger out of the wall. "Oh, no worries, you can keep the dagger. Think of it as a parting gift." She turned back to the blonde as Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione ran through the crowd and to her side.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, _Malfoy_?" Harry yelled putting his arm in front of Lily protectively.

"This doesn't concern you, Potter!" Draco shot back, glaring fiercely at him. "I was just giving the new girl a little test."

"A test?" Lily questioned him.

"Yes, my dear, a test," he answered as Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, and Dumbledore pushed through the crowd.

"What's going on here?" Professor McGonagall asked sternly as she saw Goyle still trying to pry the dagger off the wall.

"And what was this test supposed to prove?" she asked ignoring Professor McGonagall's question.

"It was supposed to prove to me if you're worthy of being my girlfriend or not," he answered her grinning. Lily pushed pass Harry's hand and walked closer to Draco, too close for Harry's liking.

"And did I past this test?" she asked coyly and bit her bottom lip.

"With flying colors," he answered her getting even closer. "You don't actually think that Potter's the best that this school has to offer do you?"

"Well I'm new and don't really know anyone," she told him blushing while still biting her lip as she flirted with the Slytherin.

"Well, allow me to introduce myself, my name is Draco Malfoy and you are certainly worthy enough to accompany me to the first visit to the village of Hogsmeade," he winked, reached for her hand, and gently kissed it.

"Are you sure that I'm worthy of such an honor?" she asked. Harry's eyes were bulging out of his head out of shock from the fact that Lily was so openly hitting on Draco.

"I am most definitely sure," he said grinning at the fact that he had her eating out of the palm of his hand and the look on Harry's face.

"Aren't I a lucky girl?" she said still holding onto his hand. "Now, I'm going to go eat breakfast before class starts and _you_ _can go to hell_," she said calmly, still smiling.

She let go of his hand and stepped back. Her face suddenly changing from her flirtatious smile to a very angry glare.

"How dare you! You have one of your big goons attack me, and now you're asking me out? The only reason you want to go out with me is because you know your archenemy Harry Potter does. Yes, he told me all about you. And though my relationship with Harry isn't official, nor is it really defined, I am _his_, not _yours_," she said as she turned around and started to walk toward the very shocked and impressed looking Harry.

She leaned in and kissed him on his cheek.

"Come on Harry, let's go get some breakfast. I'll eat with you at the Gryffindor table," she told him with loving eyes.

"Okay," he replied still in a confused state of shock.

She looked over at the group of fellow Hufflepuff's who she had been sitting with at dinner the night before. They too looked shocked and amused as they nodded, letting her know that it was okay. She took Harry's hand and started to walk toward the Great Hall. When she passed Draco, she stopped and stepped closer to him, not letting go of Harry's hand.

"For your information Harry Potter _is_ the best that this school has to offer especially compared to the likes of you," she spat at him and you could see that anger was raging inside of him. He was about to say something when she quickly added, "and next time you go looking for a girlfriend, make sure that she isn't your cousin. You know? Just to make sure you won't have to deal with a any family rivalry." She turned around and continued to walk toward the Great Hall with Harry at her side.

As she was leaving, she turned her head and saw a very proud looking Snape, who nodded in approval and went to free Goyle from the dagger, that still had him pined to the wall no matter how hard he and now Crabbe tried to free him from it.

"Sir aren't you going to do something about this?" Draco wined to Professor Snape. "She could have very well of killed Crabbe."

"He most certainly will not!! She was only defending her self Mr. Malfoy and I trust that you will do better to welcome new students to the school in the future," Professor McGonagall told the discussed looking Draco. "for it is most unfortunate that you didn't this time. Mr. Malfoy, you, Mr. Goyle, and Mr. Crabbe, will all receive two weeks detention and as soon as Slytherin House receives enough points, fifty point will be taken away."

"He can't call his father this time," Hermione said when she and Ron caught up with Harry and Lily.

"Well, he can, but I don't think that Dumbledore's going to listen to any wining from Lucius Malfoy anytime soon," said Ron, completely delighted with what just happened.

****

Author Notes: I hope you liked this story. It's also posted on Fiction Alley. I only post it on every two chapters. So, if you want to read it chapter by chapter than the link is: **.**


	9. The Dangers That Lay Within The Storms

****

Title: The Empath

Story Description: This is my version of the sixth book. Sirius Black DID NOT DIE when he fell into the veil at the Ministry of Magic; instead, he was taken as prisoner by Lord Voldemort, so that he could use Sirius as bait to get Harry. Little did anyone know there was someone who was looking for him, someone who was not at the Ministry, someone who has never even met Sirius. A girl whose identity has yet to reveal itself. But when she tries to save Sirius she can't do it alone. When she seeks help she goes to none other than Harry Potter. Who is this girl? How will she and Harry save Sirius from under Lord Voldemort's nose? Or will they? Will they not even make it out alive?

Chapter Description: "Sorry Professor, but it's my fault. Harry was just showing me around the school, and I don't feel very well, so I asked him to walk me to the Hufflepuff Tower," she explained to him, the whole time looking at the floor.  
  
"If you are ill, Ms. Black, you need to go to the hospital wing The fact that Mr. Potter kept you out too late is not my problem, but upholding school rules is," he said glaring down at her. "Goodnight, Ms. Black!"  
  
"Yes Professor, Goodnight. Goodnight Harry," she said still looking down.  
  
Do you think Snape's making it clear that he doesn't want Lily around Harry? In the end no one can keep them apart. Read this chapter and you'll learn something new about Lily's empathy.

Chapter 9: The Dangers That Lay Within The Storms

"I can't believe you just said that to Malfoy," Harry told Lily when they sat down at the Gryffindor table.

"Yeah, that was wicked. It's about time that someone told Malfoy off like that," Ron added.

"Lily?" Harry said hesitantly.

"Yeah?" she replied.

"Did you er - did you mean what you said, or were you just trying to upset Malfoy?" Harry asked her, pushing his food back and forth on his plate with his fork.

"I meant every word," she told him happily. Harry's face lit up, and he smiled at her. He began to eat his breakfast.

"Well here are the schedules," Hermione said as she passed one to Harry, Ron, and Ginny.

"Why do we have so much of everything?" Ron asked with a mouth full of food and pieces flying out as her spoke. "I'm mean just look at this." He swallowed. "On Wednesday we have double Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, then a study period for an hour, then double Defense again."

"We're studying for our N.E.W.T.s Ron," Hermione reminded him.

"Yes, but it still seems like a lot. There's a whole day devoted to Potions. Do you know what that means Hermione?" he asked her as if the answer was obvious. "It means a whole day with Snape!" Hermione slapped Ron. "What was that for?" she nodded in Lily's direction. "Oh, sorry Lily."

"It's okay. You don't have to like him. He's your Professor," she told him.

"Lily, here's your schedule," said Paris from the opposite side of the table. "It looks like we both have Occulmency with Gryffindor and Muggle Studies with Slytherin today."

"People from Slytherin actually take Muggle studies?" Ron asked shocked.

"Yeah, they have to. Some couriers require a N. E. W. T. in Muggle Studies," she told him.

"What courier would that be?" he asked her.

"Well, your dad's, Improper Use of Magic, and Underage Wizardry officials because they have to deal with Muggle borns a lot, but most of the Slytherins there are only there because they have to fill their schedules and all the other classes were already filled."

"Oh, which one is that for you two then?" he asked Lily and Paris.

"I have to fill my schedule, and I thought that Muggle Studies would be the easiest to get into and rather fascinating," Paris answered him.

"And you?" he asked Lily.

"I need to fill my schedule," she answered him. "I must admit I'm a little nervous about it. I don't know a thing about Muggles, besides the fact that the windows to the bedrooms are very small," she said rubbing her head.

"Well, whatever you need to know you can always ask me or Hermione. We were raised by Muggles," Harry told her.

"Good, I wouldn't want to get a bad grade even if it is a class to just fill my schedule."

"Lily, would you like Emily, Justin, and I to wait for you after breakfast to head to class?" Paris asked her.

"Wait, did you go to see Madam Pomfrey yet?" Harry asked Lily.

"No, I thought I would go before class."

"I could go with you and then show you where the Occulmency classroom is before I go to Charms," he suggested.

"Alright, that sounds good to me," she said happily.

"Why do you have to go to see Madam Pomfrey? Are you sick?" Paris asked her.

"No, I think I pulled a muscle when I threw that Slytherin git into the wall," she told her.

"Oh, alright then, I'll see you later."

"Alright, bye."

"Bye," Paris said before returning to the Hufflepuff table.

"So, you're not going to tell anyone about your empathy?" Ginny inquired

"Not yet. When I get to know everyone a bit, then I'll tell them, but I just found myself, and I don't want anyone to think that I'm some sort of freak," she told her.

"You're not a freak," Harry told her insistently.

"I know, I know. I'm new, and I just don't want anyone to be at all apprehensive about getting to know me."

"Mail's here," Hermione announced as hundreds of owls flew in and delivered their mail to the recipients.

"Hello Hedwig," Harry greeted his snowy owl. He took the letters from her and gave her a piece of his

toast.

"Wow, you got a lot of mail for the first day of school," said Ginny as she helped Lily get all of the letters

from the five owls that were all trying to deliver theirs first.

"The only letters I've ever gotten were either letters from the Headmistress telling me that I did something wrong or from Uncle Severus." The owls flew off after they delivered their letters.

"Who are they all from?" Ginny asked curiously.

"This one's from Professor McGonagall, these are from my friends from France," she said as she looked at who each of them was from. "This one's from Madam Malkin."

"Pig, not here. Ron's over there," Harry said, pushing the small energetic owl over to Ron and taking his letter from Sirius and reading it.

__

Harry,

Dumbledore told me of your good news. Quidditch Captain!!!!! That's wonderful, your father would be so proud of you, as I am. I'm sure you're glad to be back at school, and it's good to hear that you and Lily are getting on well.

Have fun Harry,

Snuffles

"What'd Snuffles want?" Ron asked.

"He just wanted to congratulate me on become Gryffindor Quidditch Captain," he answered him.

"Fred and George want me to work for them again over the Christmas holiday," said Ron after reading his letter.

"Christmas isn't for another three months, and they're already asking you to work for them?" Harry asked him.

"Yeah, well they say they want to get it out of the way, but really it's that they can't wait to order me around again. I think they enjoyed it a little too much over the holiday," Ron told him.

"Here's another one to add to the pile. It's from Snuffles," said Harry, handing here the letter.

"Who's Snuffles?" she asked him.

"Sirius," he whispered in her ear. "He sent it along with mine."

"He's says he hopes that I'm enjoying myself and that he's glad that he doesn't have to worry about any boys messing with me," she told them after reading the letter. "If you're finished eating Harry, we should go to the hospital wing."

"Yeah, I'm done. Let's go," he told her happily.

"Lily, come here for a second, will you?" Katie called over to her.

"Go on, I'll come over in a minute," Harry told her. Lily left for the Hufflepuff table, and Harry went over to Hermione. "Hey, Hermione, where the Occulmency classroom?"

"Honestly Harry, this is your sixth year at Hogwarts, and you still don't know your way around?" Hermione teased.

"Why don't you just go and get the map, mate?" Ron asked.

"I don't think I have time," he said trying to hurry things along.

"Go to the East Tower, and when you get to the stairs to climb up to the Astronomy Tower, instead of climbing up the stairs, turn left and walk down the corridor until - you know what, why don't Ron and I meet you at the stairs to the Astronomy Tower and we can all walk together from there?" she asked him.

"That would work," he said smiling at her. "Thanks Hermione, you're the best," he said and then leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.

"Harry, step away from the girlfriend," Ron said in mock anger.

"You're just jealous that I've kissed her before you did," Harry teased.

"You never kissed Hermione!" Ron insisted.

"Think whatever makes you comfortable Ron," Harry said as Ron's face went from a joking smile to a

scowl.

"Hermione?" he said worriedly.

"Ron, Harry's never done more than a peck on the cheek," she assured him, though she was enjoying Harry making Ron squirm.

"Oh go on to your own girlfriend, you stupid git and leave me and mine be," said Ron sounding annoyed.

"Yes, a peck on the cheek, but it's still more than you ever did until recently," he teased and ducked away from the piece of toast that Ron threw at him. "I'll see you guys later," he told them before heading over to the Hufflepuff table.

"Hey Harry, what you doing over there kissing Hermione?" Ernie asked him jokingly.

"I just thanked her for something," he told him.

"Are you going to start the DA again this year? Merlin knows we could use it. From the looks of it, we did the best out of the whole school on our Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L.S."

"Yeah, and we have permission this time."

"It's good to have Dumbledore back," Paris added. "I'd like to join the DA this year if you don't mind, Harry."

"No, not at all. Anyone can join, so long as they want to."

"We should get going so that we aren't late for class. I'll see you guys later," Lily said to them before leaving the Great Hall hand in hand with Harry.

"Welcome back to Potions sixth years. Now that you have had the summer holiday to frolic about doing absolutely nothing mind stimulating, leaving your brain to rot, you can now get back to work," said Snape after his N.E.W.T. class filled in and took their seats on the first day of school. "You have all surprisingly enough managed to receive an Outstanding on your O.W.L.S because you are in this class. If you managed that, then I'm sure a few of you can manage to pass my N.E.W.T.S class."

"Well isn't he a little ray of sunshine," Ron whispered to Hermione who smiled back at him.

"Mr. Weasley, I'm not quite sure what it is exactly that you think this is, but I assure you that it is most defiantly not a dating service, this is a Potions classroom! Five points from Gryffindor. Switch seats with the transfer student, now," he spat at Ron and looked at a book that was on his desk. "Yes, Ms. Black is it?" he asked Lily after she sat down next to Hermione, leaving Harry in front of her next to Ron.

"Yes, sir, it is," she confirmed.

He took a piece of paper off his desk and walked over to her. "As I am your new teacher, I have no idea what-so-ever of what you are capable of, besides the fact that you received an Outstanding on your O.W.L.S, you will need to prove to me that you are capable of handling this class."

"Yes, Professor."

"Here is a list of the essays that I would like you to do. They are all to be handed in to me buy next week. Do you understand?" he asked her condescendingly.

"Yes, sir." Harry was reminded of their conversation that they had in the kitchen, except this time neither of them showed any emotion.

"Good," he said and then turned around and started to walk back to his desk. "The ingredients for the potion you are going to make are on the board - he pointed his wand at the board and the ingredients appeared - when you're finished, I would like you to write an essay on what the potion is called and the effects it has upon drinking it. Get started now."

Before Snape sat down there was a nock on the door, he walked over to it, and opened it.

"Yes?" he snarled.

"Hello Severus, I was wondering if I might have a quick word with our new transfer student, Ms. Black?" Professor Sprout asked excitedly.

"Yes, of course," he said and turned around. "Ms. Black, Professor Sprout would like a word."

Lily got up and walked out into the hall with Professor Sprout. She returned with a big smile on her face. Harry looked at her questionably.

"Mr. Potter, I understand that you're a teenage boy with raging hormones, but I trust that you will pay more attention to your assignment than to a pretty girl. As I said to Mr. Weasley, this is not a dating service, this is a Potions classroom. Any objections and you can leave this class permanently," Professor Snape seethed.

"Five more point from Gryffindor."

Harry glared at him with hatred until Ron nudged him with his elbow and they tried to focus on the task at hand.

"That was a great day," said Ron, his words dripping with a mixture of sarcasm and anger. "I can't believe that we have Double Potions almost everyday this week."

"How did you two know what that potion was?" Harry asked Hermione and Lily.

"If you've forgotten already, Professor Snape raised me. I've making potions since before I can remember," Lily told him.

"And Hermione knows everything," Ron added.

"You would have known too Ron, if you had paid half attention in class last year. It was one of the last potions we made before taking our O.W.L.S," Hermione reminded him.

"And we're supposed to remember that?" Ron asked.

"You should," Hermione insisted.

"I have an idea. How about you remember it, and then when I need to know it, you remind me?"

"Your impossible, Ron," she rolled her eyes at him before he put his arm around her.

"Alright, so I talked Professor Sprout this morning before I came down for breakfast. She wanted to know how I was doing and to tell her if I needed anything, so I told her that I was interest in trying out for the Quidditch team and if she knew of a time that I would be allowed to practice on the Quidditch field. When she came to get me during class, she was letting me know that she reserved the pitch for me for this evening, so would you guys mind helping me practice?" she asked them happily.

"Really? Cool!" Ron said excitedly.

"Sure, do you want to head out now?" Harry asked her.

"Yeah, I just need to go and find Emily and Katie to see if they want to come. Why don't you go and get your brooms and find Ginny and ask her if she wants to play, and I'll meet you guys at the pitch in a few minutes?" she asked them.

"Can you find your way alright?" Harry asked her.

"I can find my way to Hufflepuff tower, and then Emily and Katie can show me how to get to the Quidditch pitch."

"Alright, we'll see you in a little while then," said Ron, and then they went their different ways.

"I hope you don't mind, but we brought some more people with us," Harry told her when they all got there.

"Good, it looks like we can play an actual game," said Lily as she put on her Quidditch gear. "So direct us captain."

"Harry, I think we have enough to go Hufflepuff against Gryffindor if we split up the two Ravenclaws," Ron said while counting everyone up.

"Aw, now none of that. This is just for fun, right?" Lily asked him.

"Yeah," he replied dumbfounded.

"Well then, let just split up as Quidditch players and not houses," she suggested.

"Alright then, let's split up so that we can see who we have here, since there seems to be new players. Chasers over here, beaters stand over there, keepers stand there, and seekers right here," he directed them into their sections. "It doesn't come out even, we need another chaser, there are only thirteen."

"Hey Hermione, want to play?" Rom asked playfully and put his arms around her.

"I'll be the referee thank you very much, Ronald," she teased back.

"How about Denise, Harry?" Colin suggested. "He's never played on a team before."

"Sure, can you go and get him?" Harry asked him.

"Yeah, sure, he'll be very excited," Colin said before dashing off the Quidditch field.

"So, Justin, you and I are Seekers, so we can pick our teams," Harry told him. "Start with beaters and keepers."

"Alright, I pick Finnigan."

"McClain," Harry said looking at one of Lily's friends.

"I'll go with Colin, when he gets back." Justin told Harry.

"Alright. Tarone." Lily's new friend Emily skipped happily to Harry

"Patil as Keeper." Parvati ran over to Seamus and jumped in his arm excitedly.

"Well, I guess that makes me stuck with Weasley," Harry said mocking complaint.

"Well, I guess so. Now pick the rest of our team you stupid git," Ron yelled at him with a grin on his face, and he shoved him as he passed him to join the others.

"That's the second time today that you've called me that," Harry complained.

"What can I say, I'm an honest man."

"Thomas as Chaser," Justin announced. Dean kissed his Ginny on the cheek and joined his teammates.

"Very good choice mate. If you would have chosen Lily, I think that Harry here just might have killed you," Dean told him making everyone laugh.

"Black," Harry said smiling at her, she smiled back at him, kiss him on the cheek, and joined her team.

"Weasley."

"You see, there was no reason to kiss me goodbye," she told Dean when she reached him.

"Bell," said Harry and Katie walked over next to Ron.

"Patil." Padma smiled and blushed brightly as she passed Justin.

"And I'll take Denis when he gets back," Harry told him.

"Okay let's get the balls then," Justin suggested.

"Alright, we'll be right back," Harry told them all and left with Justin to get the Quidditch balls.

"Hey Harry, do you think Padma might like me?" Justin asked him.

"I dunno, why don't you ask her?" he suggested.

"I don't know if I'd ever be able to get up the nerve to do that. How'd you tell Lily?" he asked.

"I didn't. Well, not really. She kind of told me that I liked her actually. She already knew," Harry told him.

"I wish Padma would do that," Justin sighed.

"Parvati, let him get one in just once. You can at least give him that," Katie Bell pleaded with Parvati. "I mean just look at the poor bloke."

"Did you see that Colin? I had the Quaffle for a long time before Ginny got it from me. Did you see that Colin?" Parvati and Katie watched Denis Creevey excitedly tell his older brother.

"Alright," she agreed. "Tell the other Chasers. We'll make it look he did it on his own, but when he dies of shock when he actually scores, don't yell at me for letting him."

Katie thanked her and flew over to Lily.

"Lily, get the Quaffle to Denis," Katie told her before Ginny flew over to them.

"I know we're playing with some amazingly good-looking chaps here ladies, but we are trying to play a game of Quidditch here," she said sternly, reminding them a little too much of Professor McGonagall as a wide grin spread across her face. "Now, who are we talking about?"

"Parvati's going to let Denis make a goal," Katie told her.

"He does seem a little pathetic out there, doesn't he?" she asked. They all looked at Denis.

"Harry, Harry, did you see that, Harry? I got hit in the arm with a bludger, just like you in second year, only

my arm didn't break!"

"That's great Colin, really great," Harry humored him and continued to look for the snitch.

"Alright, well let's clear the way then shall we?" Ginny said readily.

"You're not even on our team," Lily reminded her.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures. "Are you feeling alright, Lily?" Ginny asked her, concernedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I think it's just the rain. It's gotten pretty hard. It's just making me a little tired I guess," she assured her.

"Alright, let's go then," she said before flying off.

"Yes, another goal!" Justin yelled excitedly.

"Damn, that's not fair," Harry complained.

"Harry, it's Quidditch, when you make a goal, you get a point."

"Yeah, but two of my chasers are God knows where, and I think my other one has a concussion," Harry

pointed out.

"They're back, see Lily's got the Quaffle," Justin showed him.

"Denis, go down to the ground as close as you can, near the middle goal post, then fly straight up into the air. Parvati will think that I'm going to make the goal and she won't see you coming, so I'll throw the Quaffle down to you, and you can make the goal, alright?" Katie asked Denis.

"Will do, you can count on me," he said and then saluted her, lost his balance on his broom, and almost fell off it. "Wow, that was a close one."

"Yeah, now go," she told him and they both flew off.

After Lily scored a goal, Ginny flew behind the goal post and grabbed the Quaffle. She passed it to Dean and as he passed it to Padma Lily intercepted it and flew back toward Parvati. She spun around quickly and threw it to Katie. Katie flew to the left goal post, stopped, and threw it straight down to Denis, who caught it, flew in behind Parvati, and threw it into the middle goal post. Everyone stopped flying and looked at him in amazement.

"Did you let him do that?" Katie asked Parvati.

"No, I didn't even know where he was," she said, still shocked.

"He must do better under instructions," Ginny added.

"Wow, great job Denis. That was brilliant!" Harry yelled to him happily.

"Thank you, Harry. I - "

"Sorry, Denis, the snitch calls," he said before flying off after the snitch. Justin followed him closely,

leaving the excited Creevey brothers below.

Justin was following Harry so closely, Harry didn't know if he was going to be able to catch the snitch or not. He sped up quickly, spun around, upside-down, reached up - his legs tightly rapped around his broom and his left hand holding tightly onto it's handle - and grabbed the small, struggling, golden snitch, in his hand. Relieved that he had caught it, he spun back around, and flew to his cheering teammates.

"Way to go Harry!" Lily told him, smiling brightly.

"That was amazing Harry, I would have never of thought to do that!" Justin said excitedly.

A loud thunder roared from above them.

"Just in the nick of time really. The weather's getting pretty bad!" he sad before they all flew to the ground.

When they went into the castle, everyone went their separate ways.

"Are you feeling ill, Lily?" Harry asked her worriedly.

"I'm just a little tired, but really I'm fine. No need to worry," she assured him. "Now how about a tour around the castle?"

"Sure," he said, taking her hand and leading her down the corridor.

They walked around the castle for hours and talked about everything and nothing. Harry was reminded of the times they spent together at Black Manor.

"Are you sure that you'll be alright?" Harry asked her again as they stood in front of a large portrait of a very lovely woman with long brown hair, riding a unicorn.

"Yes, I'll be fine I just need a bit of sleep, that's all," she assured him for the second time that evening.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay with you a while longer?" he asked her.

"Well, actually - "

"Mr. Potter, Ms. Black, what are you doing walking around the corridors at this late hour?" Professor Snape spat at them, to Harry it seemed at if he came out of nowhere.

"Nothing sir. I was just walking Lily to Hufflepuff tower," he said innocently.

"Curfew is in five minutes Potter. It will take you a lot longer than that to get back to Gryffindor Tower. Would you like me to give you your detention now of then?" Snape seethed.

"Uncle Severus, I wasn't fee - "

"It's Professor Snape, Ms. Black!" he demanded.

"Sorry Professor, but it's my fault. Harry was just showing me around the school, and I don't feel very well, so I asked him to walk me to the Hufflepuff Tower," she explained to him, the whole time looking at the floor.

"If you are ill, Ms. Black, you need to go to the hospital wing. The fact that Mr. Potter kept you out too late is not my problem, but upholding school rules is," he said glaring down at her. "Goodnight, Ms. Black!"

"Yes Professor, Goodnight. Goodnight Harry," she said still looking down.

She quickly turned around, muttered the password, and disappeared behind the portrait without looking at anyone.

"Come with me Mr. Potter," Snape said glowering at him.

Harry followed him down to his office. Taking one long stride after the other. Normally, he would have noticed how fast he was going, but right now he was too angry with Snape to notice anything. He had never seen anyone treat Lily so harshly or seen her cower and become so scared so easily. Sure Snape can make just about anyone break out into tears, but Lily was different. She was brave and kind, and no one should be able to hurt her in any way, physically or emotionally. When they got to Snape's office, Snape paused, waiting for Harry to enter first. When he did, Snape slammed the door behind him.

"Listen to me Potter, and listen to me well," he warned him. Harry had only seen Snape this angry once before and that was when he caught Harry watching his memories in Dumbledore's Pensieve. "Stay - away - from - Lily!"

"And why would I do that?" Harry asked him, his voice matching the tone of pure hatred that Snape was using.

"Because she deserves better than that!"

"She deserves to make up her own mind!"

"She deserves to live a happy life without danger and death!"

"Like the life you gave her? I can see how happy that made her. Locking her up and throwing away the key!" Harry could feel all of his anger toward Snape coming out right now.

"I was protecting her!" Snape spat.

"YOU WERE PROTECTING YOURSELF!!!" Harry hadn't even realized he was yelling until after he had done it, but he didn't care. "YOU WERE AFRAID THAT VOLDEMORT WAS GOING TO COME BACK SEE THAT YOU BETRAYED HIM."

"YES, I WAS AFRAID. I WAS AFRAID THAT VOLDEMORT WOULD COME BACK, FIND OUT ABOUT HER, AND USE HER THE WAY HE WAS GOING TO IN THE FIRST PLACE!!" Snape yelled.

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" Harry shouted.

"IT IS NONE OF YOUR CONCERN POTTER!!" Snape shouted back. "NOW GET OUT OF MY OFFICE, NOW!!"

Harry felt his anger rage through him as if he were a time bomb ready to explode. He turned around and walked to the door.

"And by the way Mr. Potter." Harry stopped at the door without turning around. "You're out past curfew. Twenty points will be taken from Gryffindor, and you will receive two weeks of detentions."

Harry stormed out of the classroom, slamming the door behind him.

'Stay away from her? Stay away from her? What right does her think he has to tell me to stay away from her?"

He was at the portrait hole of Gryffindor Tower within minutes, without realizing that he had even gone that far. Before he could give the Fat Lady the password, the portrait swung open.

"Oh, there you are, Harry. We've been looking for you," Professor Dumbledore told him simply. Harry was so angry he didn't want to deal with Dumbledore because it probably had something to do with the Order or Voldemort. That's all anyone ever wanted from him anymore anyway. Forget letting him be happy for once.

"It's about Lily." Harry forgot about his anger and looked up at Dumbledore as his heart sank to the floor.

"What's happened? Where is she? Is she alright?" he said worriedly without taking a breath. "I knew I shouldn't have left her. I could tell that there was something wrong. So what is?" he spat impatiently. "Oh, I'm so sorry Professor I didn't mean to -"

"Harry, Harry, calm down," he said while putting a hand up to get Harry to stop talking. "Come with me. I'll explain on the way."

Dumbledore walked past Harry, and he rushed to quickly catch up to him. It was a lot harder for him to keep up with Dumbledore than it was for him to keep up with Snape. Right now he just felt like crawling up in the corner and slamming his head into the wall. He felt so stupid for being so preoccupied with his anger for Snape, when he should have gone to Madam Pomfrey and made her go and see Lily.

"Professor, what's happened?" Harry said breaking the silence.

"It's amazing the effect the weather has on us, isn't it Harry?" Harry was getting very impatient. He wanted to know what was going on with Lily, not talk about the weather. "On sunny days, it feels as if our heart has been lifted, and there are no cares in the world. Have you ever noticed how during the day, you're never frightened that something will hurt you or come out and attack you? It's almost as if there's an invisible boundary separating safety and insecurity, for when the skies go dark, the heart grows heavier and weaker."

"Sir, what does this have to do with Lily?" Harry asked impatiently.

"Lily is an Empath, Harry. She feels the feelings that everyone around her embraces. Even if she takes her potion, these emotions weaken her. She is usually strong enough to handle it. However, on dark stormy nights like these, her emotions wheeled her mind into her worst fears, and she cannot awaken herself from them until she feels safe," Dumbledore explained to him.

"Yes, but sir, what can I do?" Harry asked him helplessly.

"The same thing happened to her mother. She would spend countless nights in the hospital wing under Madam Pomfrey's watchful eye, and then up to a week in the hospital recovering from the trauma. One year it just stopped or so I had thought. In reality, it hadn't stopped, in fact it had gotten much worse, but she found a way to make herself feel safe."

"And what was that, Professor?"

"Sirius," Dumbledore paused for a moment, and then continued to explain. "I didn't find out about this until recently. Sirius warned me that we might have to keep an eye on her, and he told me everything. He would hold her in his arms, and she would feel instantly protected and safe. She would be perfectly fine. I'll warn you now Harry, she's in an atrocious state right now. Magical harmony," he said when they reached the portrait hole, and it swung open.

"But Professor, what if I can't help her? How do you know that I'm the one who makes her feel safe?" Harry asked, feeling very venerable.

"Because she's calling for you," he said with a wink.

"Profess, wait. We can't walk up those stairs," Harry warned him, remember all to well about the time when he and Ron tried to go up to the girls dormitories to find Hermione.

"I took care of it the last time in was in here. It's safe," he reassured him.

They walked into the sixth year girls' dormitories. Harry saw Lily sitting up in her bed hugging her knees close to her, but she wasn't awake.

"Harry? Harry, where are you?" Lily cried. "Harry, I'm so scared, please find me!" She fell to the ground sobbing into her hands.

Without thinking Harry ran over to her and picked her off of the floor. She instantly stopped crying and laid motionless in his arms. She was as cold as ice, and was so pale that it looked as if she were dying. Her body was drenched in sweat, and even though her eyes were closed, Harry could tell that they were swollen because even her eyelids were bright red.

Madam Pomfrey rushed over and pulled back the blankets on her bed. Harry tried to gently place her in bed, but without waking up she clung to him as if she was an inch from death and he was the only thing keeping her from harm.

"You can stay here with her for the night Harry," Dumbledore told him in a whisper. "Professor Sprout has already told her fellow housemates that she's an Empath. I imagine that they are still quite worried about her. I'm going to go and let them know that you will be staying here with her for the night. Goodnight, Harry, sleep well."

"Harry dear, when she wakes up, have her drink every last bit of her potion. It's on the table there next to her bed," Madam Pomfrey told him apprehensively.

"Come, Poppy. They need their rest," Dumbledore told her, and they both left the dormitory.

Harry slipped of his shoes and laid down on the bed with her still clinging to his chest. He kept one arm around her, and used his other arm to pull the blankets up around them. He laid there, holding her in his arms tightly hoping that he would never have to let go.

A few minutes later, the door opened and the sixth year girls came in. They were all already in their night things, and all looked as if they had been crying. They looked over at Lily sympathetically.

"She's going to be fine," Harry assured them in a hushed voice.

"We know, Professor Dumbledore told us." Paris snuffled.

"Is there anything that we can do?" Emily asked him.

"No, she just needs her rest. She'll be fine in the morning," he told her.

"Do you need anything?" Hannah asked him.

"No, thank you."

"Alright, goodnight, Harry," Katie said tearfully, trying to put a smile on her face.

"Goodnight."

They all climbed into bed, and with a wave of Katie's wand, the room went dark. Harry took off his glasses, and put them on the bedside table next to Lily's potion and held her tightly as he drifted off to sleep.

"Harry?" Lily called when she woke up a few hours later.

"I'm right here, darling, no need to fret," he whispered to her. "You need to sit up and drink this."

He helped her sit up, reached for the goblet on the bedside table, and gave it to her. She drank it down quickly and gave it back to him. After he put it back on the table, they laid back down on the bed. Lily buried her head into his chest, and then looked up at him.

"Thank you," she said softly.

"You're welcome," he replied simply. "Lily?"

"Yes?"

"I - I love you, Lily. With all of my heart," told her sincerely.

"I love you too Harry," she told him as tears streamed down her face.

She put her head back down on his chest and fell asleep. Harry smiled to himself, and he held her tightly.

Recalling the day's events, it was amazing to think that just a few moments ago he was in Snape's office listening to Snape tell him that he needed to stay away from Lily, and now he was holding her as she slept.

She needed him. She was in harms way, and no could protect her but him. No one else needed to protect her.

She loved him and he loved her. He could hold her in his arms forever and never let go. It was all up to him to protect **_His Lily._**

****

Author Notes: I hope you liked this story. It's also posted on Fiction Alley. I only post it on every two chapters. So, if you want to read it chapter by chapter than the link is: **.**


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